The Agricultural Inputs Marketing Enterprise, Ethiopia issued tenders for the purchase of 310,000 tons of fertilizer. The tender is to be opened on the 17th of January 2011 for the coming Ethiopian harvest season.
The government plans to purchase 78,000 tons of Urea and 232,000 metric tons of Dap.
International fertilizer suppliers are in the process of purchasing the tender documents from the AISE.
The fertilizer prices are expected to be low as international suppliers have higher numbers of sales contracts at this time of year according to experts.It is to be remembered that the first round of the tender was cancelled because of high prices. The Ethiopian government opted to negotiate for the purchase of the fertilizer directly from the manufacturers after canceling a bid for the supply of 1.3 million tons of fertilizer due to high prices quoted by bidders.
The Ethiopian government purchased the fertilizer from Amropa- Ag and Indiargo and Yara International at the time.
The government is not expected to opt for negotiations this time as fertilizer prices are more favorable.
The Ethiopian government has activated plans to build a fertilizer factory in the Oromia Regional State. It is expected that the output of the new factory will reduce the amount of fertilizer imports and the costs attached significantly.
Source: The Reporter
