Tokyo, Japan, 23 Feb – Japanese groups Toyo Engineering and Sumitomo plan to build a fertiliser factory in Mozambique using the natural gas produced in the country, Mozambican daily newspaper Notícias reported.

The factory, which will be built in the city of Beira by 2016, will require investment of US$1.2 billion and have a production capacity of 1,750 tons of fertiliser per day or annual production of 600,000 tons.

Speaking in Tokyo, the president of Toyo Engineering and the vice president of Sumitomo, respectively Yutaka Yamada and Takahiro Moriyama, said that the project would transform the natural gas into ammonia and urea, which can be used as fertiliser.

“We are still at the stage of the preliminary feasibility study and, despite expecting commercial production to begin in 2016, Prime Minister Aires Ali asked us to move ahead with the project as quickly as possible,” said Yutaka Yamada.

The president of Toyo Engineering, who was speaking just after a meeting with Mozambican Prime Minister, Aires Ali, who was on a visit to Japan, also said that the project would lead to the appearance and/or development of small and medium-sized companies downstream.

“We believe our production will be enough to meet all of Mozambique’s domestic demand for fertiliser and the remainder will be exported,” he said. (macauhub)