Tel Aviv-Israel Chemicals Ltd. said on July 31 that it has embarked on a cooperative venture with Zuari Industries Ltd. to jointly establish and operate a soluble fertilizer production facility, and to carry out joint sales activities throughout India. Zuari is a member of the K.K. Birla Group, a multinational conglomerate based in India and one of India’s major producers and distributors of fertilizers and agricultural products. ICL believes the partnership will expand its sales of high-margin specialty fertilizers significantly throughout this rapidly-developing market and position it to increase sales of all ICL Fertilizer products. ICL and Zuari will distribute water soluble fertilizers throughout India, and will jointly establish a water soluble NPK fertilizer plant with an initial capacity of 10,000 mt/y. The building and operation of the plant will take advantage of the complementary technology, knowledge, experience, and raw materials of the two companies. ICL said the goal is to expand both companies’ specialty fertilizer activities throughout the rapidly growing Indian market. Zuari will give ICL access to its top-tier sales and marketing and distribution channels, as well as to its customer base in India, helping ICL to strengthen the regional sales of its specialty fertilizer. ICL noted that Indian sales of soluble fertilizers have been doubling each year since 2003. It said the jv will benefit from Israeli technology and raw materials.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain