Notore, Mitsubishi partner on petrochem project in Rivers

NOTORE Chemical Industries Limited (Notore), owner of the only urea fertilizer plant in sub-Saharan Africa, has signed a Joint Venture Agreement with Mitsubishi Corporation in Tokyo, Japan, to develop an ammonia, urea and other petrochemicals project at its existing facility at Onne, Rivers State, Nigeria.The new plant, owing to its advantage of being built on a 'brown-field' site, with existing gas facilities and other infrastructure, is expected to come on-stream by 2016.Mitsubishi Corporation is a global integrated business enterprise that develops and operates businesses across virtually every industry, including industrial finance, energy, metals, machinery, chemicals, foods and environmental business.The project will involve the construction of an integrated plant complex with production capacities of 1,700 tonnes per day of ammonia, 3,000 tonnes per day of urea, and 1,500 tonnes per day of other petrochemicals, respectively.An agreement was also signed with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) in Japan, to carry out the pre- Front End Engineering Design (FEED) for the project. It is expected that early works, including FEED, should be concluded in the first quarter of 2013. The early works phase will be followed by 36 months of Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC).Notore commenced production of commercial quantities of ammonia in January 2010 and granular urea in April 2010 at its 300,000 Metric Tonnes (MT)/annum ammonia and 500,000 MT/annum urea capacity plant.Today, the company has achieved nameplate capacity for its factory, through a refurbishment and operational excellence programme. The company is currently planning to increase its yearly output to 430,000 tonnes of ammonia and 750,000 tonnes of urea.Notore's successful penetration into the Nigerian fertiliser market was as a result of the establishment of an efficient nationwide distribution and sales network aimed at supplying fertiliser directly to Nigerian farmers.The company has also engaged previously unemployed youths in over 25 states as private extension workers through a 'Train-the-Trainer scheme.
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