Uralchem, Moscow, plans to participate in the privatization of Zimbabwean fertilizer holding company Chemplex Corp. Ltd., according to a Prime Business News report, citing Uralchem Chairman Dmitry Mazepin. Zimbabwe’s Industrial Development Corp. (IDC) this past September retained Ernst & Young LP to assist it in arranging the sale or in finding a partner for Chemplex (GM Sept. 7, p. 27).
IDC is looking to divest part or all of its 100 percent holding in Chemplex. There is said to be interest from 26 local and international companies, including Uralchem, according to the report.
Harare-based Chemplex controls Dorowa Minerals, which operates the country’s only phosphate mine, and ZimPhos. It also holds a 50 percent interest in Zimbabwe Fertiliser Co. (a producer of NPK fertilizers), and a 36 percent interest in Zimbabwe’s sole ammonium nitrate manufacturer, Sable Chemicals Industries Inc. in Kwekwe (GM Feb 9, p. 27; June 15, p. 30). ZimPhos is the country’s sole producer of sulfuric acid, aluminum sulfate, and superphosphates.
An earlier attempt to sell of Chemplex in 2015 proved unsuccessful.
Longer term, Uralchem wants to establish a Russian hub in Zimbabwe, and perhaps also in Zambia, in possible cooperation with Uralkali for the direct supply of mineral fertilizers to the two countries and potentially their neighbors, where demand is expected to grow rapidly in the next several years (GM Feb. 9, p. 27). Around 100,000 mt/y of Uralchem and Uralkali products are supplied to southeast Africa currently, according to Uralchem.