MC Ferticom to streamline its production of organic fertilizers

Major fertilizer manufacturer MC Ferticom plans to invest several hundreds of millions of yen (several million dollars) this summer to consolidate its production of organic fertilizers at its Konoshima plant, aiming to elevate its cost competitiveness.

The Tokyo-based company will transfer all of the production functions of its Banshu plant in Hyogo Prefecture and part of the production of its other plants to its Konoshima plant in Okayama Prefecture. The Banshu plant, whose land has been designated for public-works projects, making continued operation impossible, will be shut down. The Konoshima plant, which has been making mainly inorganic fertilizers, will be outfitted with systems for quality control and environmental protection during a maintenance shutdown scheduled for August to September and reopen as a production hub for organic fertilizers in October.

The March 11 earthquake forced the company to suspend its Iwaki and Onahama plants’ production and shipments of fertilizers in Fukushima Prefecture. Operations were restarted in April at the Onahama plant and on July 4 at the Iwaki plant, where some building had been damaged by aftershocks on April 11. To minimize its risks from future disasters, it is pondering a setup that will allow its Konoshima plant to handle part of its Iwaki plant’s production of functional compound fertilizers.