PhilPhos exports P400M worth of fertilizer to Zambia

The country's top producer of phosphate fertilizers has exported P400 million worth of fertilizer to Zambia due to the "thriving agriculture" there. Philippine Phosphate Fertilizer Corporation (PhilPhos) in a statement said these products amounted to four percent of the company's total exports this year. "We chose Zambia as our entry point in Africa because of its promising agriculture industry, a key growth driver of its economy. We believe that through our exports, we can help improve the agriculture sector further and generate more jobs for the people,” said PhilPhos president Salvador Zamora II. He noted that PhilPhos is the first Philippine fertilizer company to enter the African market, where Zambia has engaged in more foreign direct investments as well as a diversification program in tourism, gemstone mining and hydroelectricity. “Zambia is seen as a new export frontier for PhilPhos. Because agriculture is thriving there, we believe it is a good business move on our part," Zamora said. Africa is the world's second most populous continent with about 1.03 billion people. Zamora added that their entry aims to shift Zambia from being dependent on the copper mining industry. PhilPhos first ventured outside Asia in 2007 when it made an initial shipment of about P962 million worth of products to Brazil, which needed fertilizers for sugarcane fields to sustain its top product bioethanol. With over 60 distributors and 2,000 dealers nationwide, PhilPhos exports 65 percent of its total production outside the Philippines. — Marc Jayson Cayabyab/BM, GMA News