Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers posts USD 20 MN net profit during 2018-19

MUMBAI, 25 September 2019 :   Indian government owned net profit Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd (RCF) has posted a net profit of USD 20 MN (INR 1.39 billion) during 2018-19 financial year.

RCF is engaged in the production and marketing of fertilizers and industrial chemicals and has manufacturing facilities at Chembur in Mumbai and Thal in Raigad district.

During the year, the company's total revenue also posted a growth of USD 1.26 billion (INR 89.65 billion) during 2018-19, as compared to USD 1.03 billion (INR 73.43 billion) posted during 2017-18 fiscal year.

Projects under implementation

Talcher Fertilizers Limited: RCF  along with Coal India Limited (CIL), GAIL (India) Limited and Fertilizer Corporation of India Limited (FCIL), is setting up a fertilizer complex, comprising of 2200 MTPD Ammonia plant and 3850 MTPD Urea plant, at FCIL, Talcher, Odisha based on Coal Gasification Technology.

The project is of strategic importance for the country as it aims to make breakthrough for an alternative source of feedstock in the form of abundantly available coal from domestic sources in place of natural gas.

Success of this project will be a game changer and shall pave a way forward to the production of chemicals and fertilizers from abundantly available coal resulting in less dependency on RLNG imports. It will also help in meeting much needed Urea production capacity for the eastern part of the Country.

Contracts for Coal Gasification and Ammonia-Urea awarded to Wuhuan on 11 September and 19 September 2019 respectively. Project is scheduled for commissioning by September-2023.

The estimated Project Capital cost is USD $1.87 billion (INR 132.77 billion). RCF’s share of equity is USD $167 million (INR11.84 billion) (31.85%) in the said venture.

Commissions sewage treatment plant at Trombay

Water supply situation in Mumbai is getting more and more difficult day by day. Ensuring water availability has become critical for the smooth functioning of the Trombay unit given the competing demand for water in the city.

Recognizing this, Company is has set-up one more new Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) adjacent to the existing STP with a capacity to treat 22.75 Million Litres per Day (MLD) of Municipal Sewage to produce about 15 MLD of treated water.

A portion of the treated water will be supplied to M/s Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL), on mutually agreed terms. This plant will reduce fresh water intake of RCF and BPCL by 15-MLD making it available to the residents of Mumbai. Estimated project capital cost is about USD $29.50 million (INR 2.09 billion).

The plant is successfully commissioned on 10 Sept 2019.

RCF is also exploring following joint venture projects

Namrup – IV Project at Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer Corporation Limited (BVFCL):

DoF has nominated RCF and NFL along with Oil India Ltd., Govt. of Assam and BVFCL in joint venture for setting up a Urea plant with an annual capacity of 1.27 Million MT at BVFCL, Namrup, Assam. The feasibility study for the project is carried out by PDIL. The estimated Project Cost is about USD 1.02 billion (INR 76 billion). The equity share of RCF is estimated to be USD $54.77 million (INR 3.88 billion) (17%).

JV Project in Gabon:

Republic of Gabon plans to set up green-field Ammonia Urea fertilizer complex at Mandji Island near port – Gentil of West coast of Gabon. The Urea plant capacity is envisaged to be 1.27 Million MT. Invitation to participate in Gabon Fertilizer Project comprising Ammonia-Urea fertilizer complex was received from DoF. Due diligence study is completed. There is likelihood of induction of another Indian JV Partner. The estimated Project Capital Cost is USD 1.46 billion (INR 102.86 billion).

JV Project in Syria and Jordan:

In Syria and Jordon, investment opportunities for development of rock phosphate mines and production of phosphoric acid are being explored.

Company has also undertaken major projects in the direction of improving energy efficiency:

The Projects completed in the year 2018-19 are:

During the year, RCF completed GT-HRSG project at its Thal with a project cost of USD $51.42 billion (INR 3.63 billion). Due to this, RCF achieved energy saving of about 0.30 Gcal/MT of Urea and additional 0.05 Gcal/MT will be achieved by Dec-2019 after installation of new motor driven ARC-IV compressor.

Apart from other energy schemes completed in Thal unit include installation of Vortex Mixer and Conversion Booster in the Urea Reactors, installation of Vapour Absorption Machine (VAM) for Process Air Compressor in Ammonia Plant, Installation of VAM for CO2 compressor suction cooling, Revamp of CO2 compressor is completed in the year 2018-19. Energy saving of 0.116 Gcal/MT of Urea is achieved with implementation of these schemes.

Installation of Gas Turbine Generator (GTG) and Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG) at Trombay Unit

New energy norms for Trombay Urea are scheduled to be effective from 01.04.2020. As a part of energy reduction projects, RCF is installing Gas Turbines Generator (GTG) of 2 x 25 MW along with Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG) of 2 x 65 MTPH capacity with an aim to reduce the specific energy consumption in Ammonia and Urea Plants at Trombay.

Work has been awarded to M/s Thermax on 18.04.2018 for implementing the project on LSTK basis. Estimated project capital cost is about Rs.427 Crore.

Excepted Energy Saving is 0.30 Gcal/MT of Urea. The project is expected to be completed by April 2020.

RCF at Trombay unit also with installation of Gas Turbine, Urea Casale revamp and KBR Schemes in Ammonia V, reduction in energy consumption by around 0.64 GCal/MT of Urea will be achieved by March 2021 with an investment of USD $89.64 billion (INR 6.35 billion).

RCF is one of the major producers of fertilizers and caters to about 8% of Country’s demand of Urea and also supplies around 6 lakh tonne (Production + trading) of NPK fertilizers and plays a vital role in enhancing the agricultural productivity and food security for our country and sharing social responsibilities throughout the cross sections of the country.

Financial Performance:

                                                                                            (In Rs. Crore)

Particulars	2018-19	2017-18
Total Revenue	8965.14	7343.20
Total Operating Costs	8441.79	7015.23
Operational Profit	523.35	327.97
Depreciation/Impairment	155.69	137.04
Finance Cost	155.85	62.59
Profit/ (Loss) before Exceptional Items	211.81	128.34
Exceptional Items	(23.44)	0.12
Profit/ (Loss) before tax	235.25	128.22
Net Profit / (loss)	139.17	78.80