Boral And Mitsui In Aust. Venture

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30827, 12 August 1965, Page 17

Boral And Mitsui In Aust. Venture

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright >

SYDNEY, August 11.

Boral, Ltd., will join with the Japanese Mitsui group to manufacture nitrogenous fertilisers at Silverwater, near Sydney. Boral will be the major shareholder in the venture with an 80 per cent holding.

Estimated cost of the venture is about 13m United States dollars. The move was announced in Sydney yesterday in a joint statement by Mitsui and Boral. ! It came after several recent visits to Japan by Boral’s managing director (Mr E. R. Griffin). The plant will make the fertiliser using the Japanese Toyo Koatsu process. It will be built adjacent to the plant of Petrochemical Holdings, Ltd., near the Silverwater bridge across the Parramatta river. The fertiliser operation will be based on the gasmaking and chemical operations of Paccal. Boral is the majority shareholder in Paccal. Jointly-owned The plant will be designed by Toyo Engineering Corporation—an associate of Mitsui. A jointly-owned marketing company will handle the distribution of the product. Nitrogen is a main ingredient in several fertilisers, including urea (46 per cent nitrogen) and sulphate of ammonia (21 per cent). This move brings Boral back strongly into the fertiliser field only a short while after it moved into and then out of several Australian fertiliser companies. In 1963, Boral acquired Mt. Lyell Investments, Ltd., which had considerable shareholdings in Australian Fertilizers, Cuming Smith and Mt. Lyell Farmers’ Fertilisers, A.C.F. and Shirley’s, and Wallaroo Mt. Lyell Fertilisers. However, late. last year, Boral sold its holding in Cuming Smith and Mt. Lyell Farmers’ Fertilisers to British Petroleum Company for £3,375,000. B.P. and C.S.M.L.F.F. plan to build a nitrogenous fertiliser industry based on the Kwinana refinery complex in Western Australia. Two basic plants will be built at a total cost of more than £lom. However, it will be three or four years before these come into production. In the meantime the sole Australian manufacturer of nitrogenous fertilisers is 1.C.1.A.N.Z. at its plant at Botany. Boral held a sizeable share investment in 1.C.1.A.N.Z.

after an exchange of its holding in Australian Fertilizers for shares in 1.C.1.A.N.Z., but this holding was subsequently sold.