For a long period of time Zambia has been dependent on international markets for the country's fertiliser requirements. Local production was historically limited and largely dependent on Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia, a state-owned enterprise that was established in September 1967, and then operationalised in 1970 by Zambia's first republican president.
The main aim of creating a local fertiliser company is to manufacture ammonium nitrate for further processing into fertiliser and for manufacturing explosives for the mining industry.
As production of maize increased, more private sector players entered the sector supplementing government efforts primarily by importing fertiliser. However, the government maintained overall control influencing fertiliser supplies in the country. The number of importers involved in the wholesaling and distribution of fertiliser in Zambia included: Nitrogen Chemical of Zambia (government manufacturing plant in Kafue), Greenbelt (which used to trade and blend fertilisers in Tanzania and Mozambique), Zambia Fertilisers (who used to blend), Bridgeways Commodities,
Pro-Vet, Nyiombo Investments (Zambia-based), Omnia, Louis Dreyfus and the Export Trading Group.
From 2021 there has been a shift in the importation of fertiliser. United Capital Fertilizer (UCF), a vertically integrated fertiliser company, with capacity to supply 300,000Mt per year of Urea, Di Ammonium Phosphate, NPK and other customised blended fertilisers, was incorporated. The objective of establishing and incorporating UCF in the market was to localise the manufacture of Urea, Compound D fertilisers, synthetic liquid ammonia and other fertiliser blends. Once up and running, UCF further invested in a second fertiliser plant at a cost of $600 million.
These two plants will eventually have a production capacity of 800,000 tons of urea, D Compound and other blended fertilisers. UCF will produce fertilisers not just for Zambia, but also for other southern African countries. Over time, the government hopes to reduce the cost of fertiliser and increase the overall maize production in Zambia.
The creation of these two fertiliser production plants, that largely use local raw materials to produce fertilisers, has had a significant impact on the major importers of fertiliser in the Zambian market. It is worth monitoring further shifts within this industry and the impact it will have on the 2025/2026 growing season.