MOU Signed to Build East Africa's First Ammonia-Based Chemical Plant in Tanzania for $800 Million

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania - June 29, 2013 - PRLog -- Huchems Fine Chemical Corporation of Malaysia, Gro Energy and Infotech Investments of Tanzania have today signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to invest $800mm and build East Africa’s first ammonia-based chemical manufacturing plant. The plant will be located in Tanzania and will utilize the country’s abundant natural gas resources. The parties expect to conclude a final agreement before the end of 2013.

The planned chemical plant represents an important development in the African energy and petrochemical sectors, tapping local energy supplies for domestic industrial production rather than export, creating locally produced, value added chemical products that are critical to other sectors of the domestic economy such as fertilizer for agriculture. This project is expected to create hundreds of stable manufacturing jobs, while increasing the availability and lowering the cost of key chemical products.

“With Huchems’ long-term experience in the petrochemicals industry and natural resources from Tanzania, this project can be successfully realized and be a win-win for both Tanzania and Huchems,” said GyuSung Choi, CEO of Huchems Fine Chemical Corporation and Huchems Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.  “The investment can contribute to the socioeconomic development of Tanzania by creating jobs and providing technical education while also contributing to the growth of the agricultural sector throughout East Africa by being a regional producer of fertilizer.”

“I believe this project could be a model for the development of Africa’s energy resources,” said Sara Menker, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Gro Energy. “It combines the expertise of best-in-class global manufacturing companies with local partners, and creates products that can have an economic impact across multiple sectors of the local economy beyond the energy sector.”

“This is an important project for Tanzania, and East Africa as a whole,” said Ali Mufuruki, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Infotech Investment Group Ltd and co-founder of Gro Energy. “It demonstrates the importance of energy resources such as natural gas beyond commodity exports, and the opportunity for the development of many more value-adding chemical manufacturing plants that create jobs and stimulate domestic economic growth.”

About Huchems Fine Chemical Corporation

Huchems Fine Chemical Corporation is a South Korean and Malaysian-based company engaged in the manufacture of chemical products. The Company mainly manufactures fine chemical products, including dinitrotoluene (DNT) used to produce polyurethane and toluenediisocyanate (TDI); mononitrobenzene (MNB) for polyurethane and methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI); nitric acid for metallurgical usage, pigment and gunpowder, and ammonium nitrate for explosive and anesthetic. It also provides basic chemical products, such as melamine used for tableware, car paints and others; methanol used to produce methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE); ammonia used to produce fertilizer, caprolactam, nitric acid and other chemicals.

About Gro Energy

Gro Energy is an Africa-focused advisory firm that provides highly customized services in the areas of energy law and regulation, finance upstream and downstream services, power generation, business development strategy and fiscal policy development strategy.   It serves both government and private sector clients in African energy.

For more information please visit http://www.gro-ventures.com.  

About Infotech Investment Group, Ltd.

Infotech Investment Group Ltd. is a leading Tanzanian investment company with interests in numerous sectors including IT, Telecommunications, Retail and Real Estate.

Media Contacts

Huchems Fine Chemical Corporation

Mina Choi / minachoi@acfm-global.com / +6-016-8788-340

Gro Energy & Infotech Investments

Michaela Kron / mkron@keatingco.com / +1-212-925-6900 or +1-404-210-9945