NEW TRADE PARTNERSHIP TO PROVIDE QUALITY UREA TO GROWERS

As the fertiliser demands of the agricultural industry continues to change, Gleadell has formed a partnership with their parent company Toepfer International to import high grade granular urea into the UK. A quality product, plus continuity of supply will be the outcome of the new arrangement

The Toepfer group annually trades in the region of 2 million tonnes of fertiliser, with a turnover value of approximately US $280 million, and has strong links with both manufacturers and consumers across the globe. The majority of this business is carried out in the Asian market, where Toepfer began its fertiliser trading activities.

This year Toepfer opened an office in Hamburg to service the EU market, and as a shareholder in Gleadell, Toepfer are provided with an existing distribution network in the UK. Major sources of supply include KAFCO Bangladesh, who specialise in the manufacturing of Granular Urea, but most importantly for the UK market, supply contracts are now in place with Alexandria Fertilisers in Egypt.

The Egyptian granular urea is a well recognised, quality brand, and Gleadell will be working very closely with both Toepfer and Alexandria Fertilisers to promote the product and service the ever-increasing demand from the country’s growers.

Taking almost three years to complete, Alexandria opened their new plant for production in May 2006 and Gleadell took delivery of their first 12,000 tonnes of product into the port of Immingham this month. The product is destined for farms within a 140 mile radius of the port – these farms account for approximately 50% of the UK granular urea market.

All new manufacturing plants being built anywhere in the world are now strategically placed to benefit from cheap supplies of gas. This includes Egypt, where there are plans for a further plant to be constructed in the next 2-3 years.

The MV Kapitonas Simkus discharges her cargo of granular urea at Immingham docks on 14th October. She left El Dekheila in Egypt on the 28th September with a load of 12,000 tonnes.

The coaster alongside – MV Helse - will be transporting 1,650 tonnes of the cargo to Teignmouth on the south coast. The process of transferring a cargo from one ship to another while in dock is called a transhipment, and it is understood that this is the first time it has been carried out with fertiliser at Immingham docks.