Tokyo—Mitsui & Co. Ltd. said it has reached an agreement to set up a company to produce and distribute imported fertilizers in Myanmar as part of a joint venture with Behn Meyer, a major distributor of chemicals in Southeast Asia. Mitsui & Co. (Asia Pacific) Pte. Ltd. and Behn Meyer Agricare Holdings (S) Pte. Ltd. reached the deal with Myanmar Agribusiness Public Corp. (MAPCO) through their newly-established Singapore-based investment company, BMM Venture (S) Pte. Ltd., in which Mitsui will own a 49 percent equity stake. The parties will set up Agri First Co. Ltd. (AFC) and plan to invest around Yen1.2 billion ($10.6 million) to build an NPK bulk blend fertilizer plant together with a warehouse, a bagging facility, and other equipment in Myanmar’s Thilawa Special Economic Zone, located on the outskirts of Yangon. Construction of the 100,000 mt/y plant is targeted to be completed in May 2017, with commercial operations to begin shortly thereafter. AFC plans to import various fertilizer products, such as NPK compound +TE (trace elements) and foliar fertilizers. Mitsui declined to comment on the anticipated initial import and distribution volumes. “We cannot disclose the details of our business plan now. But based on the results of our more than two-year feasibility study, we are certain it won’t take too much time to achieve at least 50,000-100,000 mt/y judging by the huge market potential in Myanmar as well as AFC’s vast local network,” a spokesperson for Mitsui told Green Markets. AFC combines BMM’s expertise in the production and distribution of specialty fertilizers, MAPCO’s networks with agricultural business operators in Myanmar, and Mitsui’s financing, logistics, procurement, and marketing capabilities, according to Mitsui’s press release. Early this year, Marubeni Corp. announced it would commence a fertilizer manufacturing and re-packaging business with a local partner in Myanmar’s Thilawa SEZ in January (GM Jan. 15, p. 13).
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain