The Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Services Enterprise (ESLSE) disclosed that the fertilizer cargo that arrived at Djibouti’s Doraleh Multipurpose Port (DMP) is swiftly transported to the centre in coordination manner. In the budget year, USD 1.6 billion worth of different type of fertilizer will be imported.
The enterprise disclosed that more vessels carrying Morocco’s fertilizer will dock their anchorage in the coming weeks.
On February 1, ESLSE disclosed that the Marshall Islands flag carrier, Draftzilla, vessel reached DMP with 64,470 metric tones.
It has been recalled that the shipment of fertilizers has been slightly delayed as per the expectation, while the government stated that the commodity that is crucial for the agricultural productivity will arrived prior to the coming rainy season.
Roba Megersa, CEO of the state owned mammoth logistics enterprise, ESLSE, said that despite the procurement delay, the shipping enterprise shall manage the dispatch as soon as possible unless aid cargo suddenly arrive.
“The vessels are coming frequently, we can manage it,” Roba stated.
“We are not concerned about the consignment of fertilizer cargo, while if other bulk cargos like relief and market stabilization wheat come at similar time, it would be a challenge to transport cargos to the center,” he added.
He said that mostly ESLSE is using ultramax vessels like Draftzilla that have a capacity to carry over 60,000 metric tones.
Aid partners like World Food Program are using vessels with medium size that is one of the reasons for berth congestion at the port.
He has also stated that availability of trucks shall be a problem for the dispatch.
The information ESLSE disclosed indicated that transporting the latest fertilizer consignment to the central destination has immediately embarked.
It said that it has concluded ample preparation to transport the cargos in coordination manner without any delay.
The current fertilizer cargo loaded on January 18 at Port of Jorf Lasfar, Morocco shall be stated as the first consignment for the current budget year.
ESLSE said that in the coming weeks additional two vessels are expected to arrive at Djibouti with similar cargo.
The Ethiopian Agricultural Businesses Corporation (EABC) stated that based on the demand of Ministry of Agriculture close to 1.29 million metric tones of different type of fertilizer will be imported for the upcoming agriculture season.
The expected cost of the fertilizer that will be bought and imported until May 2022 is estimated to be USD 1.64 billion.
EABC said that the latest cargo which arrived at DMP is part of the fertilizer that is planned to be imported in the year.
From the total over 1.2 million metric tones of fertilizer that will be imported in the coming few months 219 thousand metric tones is NPS, while the 569 thousand is NPSB and UREA type of fertilizer takes the balance.
This year fertilizer procurement is so far lower than the volume compared with the same period of last year.
In the 2020/21 budget year EABC procured about 1.7 million metric tones. Roba said that this year procurement shall not stand on the stated amount since they purchase on different lots.
Recently, the World Bank disclosed that the global price of fertilizer surged stating most fertilizers prices increased sharply in 2021’s third quarter and continued rising in early November, reaching levels unseen since the 2008-09 global financial crisis.
“Prices have been driven by surging energy costs, supply curtailments, and trade policies,” the report revealed.
Most reports predict that the price will continue to soar in 2022.