Agritech suspends urea plant operations amid Cyclone Biparjoy

Agritech Limited halted its urea plant operations, as the company failed to secure gas supplies due to the looming threat of Cyclone Biparjoy.

The company, formerly Pak-American Fertilizers Limited, which produces urea and GSSP (Granular Single Super Phosphate) fertilizer, shared the development in a notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday.

“The urea plant operations of the company will stand suspended with effect from June 13, 2023 due to suspension of gas supply as a result of the Cyclone Biporjoy threat alert,” read the notice.

The company said the threat alert of the cyclone, which was 350kms away from Karachi on Wednesday afternoon, hampered the “birthing of Regasified Liquid Natural Gas (RLNG) cargoes … thus curtailing RLNG flow to SNGPL (Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited) and adversely affecting pipeline pack levels in the SNGPL system.”

Agritech owns and operates urea manufacturing plant at Mianwali, Punjab. The company also operates the manufacturing facility of GSSP at Haripur Hazara, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

At around 1:45pm, the share price of Agritech was hovering around Rs4.7, down Re0.03.

Cyclone Biparjoy is expected to pass through Keti Bandar, located in the Thatta district of Sindh, on Thursday afternoon.

’’Biparjoy is located 300km south-west of Keti Bandar, 350km south of Karachi and 360km south of Thatta,“ the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said in a tweet on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed the Sindh provincial government, NDMA and other relevant organisations to utilise all-out resources to ensure people’s protection.