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Harare Bureau
Chemplex Corporation is negotiating for a $10 million loan facility with Agribank for ZFC Limited that will go towards plant upgrades and working capital. ZFC Limited is a wholly owned fertiliser manufacturing subsidiary of Chemplex Corporation. The company has so far secured about $2 million from the State-Controlled financial institution.

Chemplex chief executive Misheck Kachere yesterday confirmed the engagement with Agribank and said it was still work in progress. “We’re in negotiations with Agribank for a $10 million facility but only $2 million has been made available to us so far. It’s still work in progress as there’ve also been challenges with regards to availability of funding on the Agribank side,” said Kachere.

The funding if secured will play a huge role in improving efficiencies at the company. Kachere said on top of the lack of funding, fertiliser sales had been subdued recently and this has forced the fertiliser manufacturing company to shut down some of its plants.

“We’ve shut down some of our manufacturing plants because we’re sitting on a lot of stock and fertiliser sales have been very low recently,” said Kachere. ZFC imported Ammonium Nitrate to supplement local production with all ZFC outlets and retail chains well stocked with all fertiliser types and agro chemicals across the country.

Production capacity has increased to 100 percent from 40 percent recorded by beginning of this year. The company’s capacity for last year was about 31 percent against South African peers at 91 percent.

Kachere has always been quoted saying Zimbabwe has enough capacity to satisfy local demand and fertiliser manufacturers have since approached the government advocating for a level playing field.

ZFC limited supplies a wide range of granular fertilisers comprising straights, compounds, blends and specialty (soluble) fertilisers. The company supplies a comprehensive range of agricultural chemicals and these include herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, fumigants and adjuvants