Oscarline Onwuemenyi
27 July 2017, Sweetcrude, Abuja – The Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, on Thursday, inaugurated a new world-class fertilizer plant built by Indorama Eleme Fertilizer and Chemicals Limited in Port Harcourt.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Acting President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, who made the announcement in a statement issued in Abuja, said the plant with production capacity of 1.5 million metric tons of Urea fertilizer is considered the world’s largest single-train Urea plant.
Eleme Petrochemicals Company Ltd, now Indorama Eleme Fertilizer and Chemicals Limited, was privatised in 2006 after the sale of the federal government’s 75 percent shares to a core investor through competitive bidding process.
The statement said that the plant, with a production capacity of 4,000 metric tons of nitrogenous fertilizer per day, was built with 1.5 billion dollars. It is supported by a port terminal at the nearby Onne Port Complex, and a Gas Pipeline of 83.5KM for gas supply
It said that the construction of the plant would lead to a green revolution in the agriculture sector in Nigeria other parts of Africa and beyond, in line with the economic diversification policy of the Buhari administration.
The statement said that besides making fertilizer available to farmers nationwide at an affordable cost, the plant will boost crop yield for farmers and help in minimizing food grain deficit in Nigeria.
Akande said fertiliser from the plant would be made available to farmers nationwide at an affordable cost. This will boost crop yield for farmers and help in minimising food grain deficit in Nigeria, he said.
The plant consists of 2300 TPD Ammonia plant, 4000 TPF Urea plant, 83 km long Gas Pipeline, and an Export Port Terminal.
The main plant, measuring approximately 40 hectares, is located within the perimeter of Indorama’s existing petrochemical site in Port Harcourt.
The Gas Pipeline for the fertiliser plant was constructed by IEFCL within an existing 15 meter wide Right of Way (“ROW”).
Part of the $1.5bn was used to build a new jetty at Onne Port on a plot of land measuring approximate 6 hectares
The jetty comprises 320 m long Quay along with terminal infrastructure including all material handling facilities necessary for urea and a urea storage facility with a capacity of 45,000 MT.
The transfer of urea from the fertiliser plant will be by road via an existing road network.
Construction of the new fertiliser plant commenced in early 2013 with commissioning coming two years later than planned.
