Zambia fertilizer plant expansion: UCF breaks ground on key $1.6B ammonia and urea project

United Capital Fertilizer (UCF), a subsidiary of China’s Wonderful Group, has launched a $1.6 billion expansion of its Zambia fertilizer plant in Chilanga, Lusaka Province. President Hakainde Hichilema officiated the groundbreaking on October 20 at the Wonderful Group Industrial Park, Milling Middle East & Africa reported.

Phase II will add annual capacity of 540,000 tonnes of ammonia, 520,000 tonnes of urea, 400,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate and 50,000 tonnes of food-grade carbon dioxide, according to UCF. Construction is expected to take about three and a half years, pointing to start-up around 2030. UCF currently produces compound fertilizers and urea for Zambia and neighboring countries.

The project is expected to create about 3,000 construction jobs and 2,500 permanent positions. It supports the government’s Grow Zambia agenda, which targets annual output of 10 million tonnes of maize, 3 million tonnes of soybeans and 1 million tonnes each of wheat and sugar. The company did not disclose its feedstock source or financing structure.

The expansion adds to a wave of African nitrogen investment, including Dangote’s 3 million-tonne urea complex in Ethiopia.

Source: Milling Middle East & Africa

What to know about the Zambia fertilizer plant expansion