TWO new fertiliser plants with a daily capacity of 500 metric tonnes will be built by the Ministry of Energy in Taikekyi Township, Yangon Division in October, according to a Ministry official.

The plants will produce 330,000 tonnes of fertiliser annually, which will be 50 per cent more than present production, said U Soe Myint, Director General of the Energy Planning Department at the Ministry.

“We will mainly produce urea and ammonia using natural gas,” he said.
In Myanmar rice paddy cultivation uses 16 million acres. “Even if we economise on the use of fertiliser, and use only one tonne for every ten acres, we will need 1.6 million tonnes per year. But present production in Myanmar can not cope with the demand,” said U Soe Myint.

There are currently four plants in Myanmar producing approximately 200,000 tonnes of fertiliser a year.

According to U Soe Myint, the life span of a chemical plant is 20 years. “The present fertiliser plants were built in the early 1970s and one in 1985 and they can not produce at capacity,” said U Soe Myint.

Last year, 10,000 tonnes of fertiliser was imported, he said. “At US$150 a tonne it is expensive compared to local fertiliser which costs K100,000 a tonne.”

The new plants will be built with a $200 million loan from China, which will also provide the construction companies; the China Huanqiu Contracting & Engineering Corporation and China CAMC Engineering Company.

“We intend to finish the project in twenty-eight month’s time. The concession loan is one of the outcomes from the Vice Premier of China, Madame Wu Yi’s recent visit during the last week of March,” U Soe Myint said.

About 300 employees will be employed in the fertiliser plants when they are completed.