Tata Chemicals has resumed production of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) at its Haldia plant in West Bengal.

Production was suspended for the last three months due to shortage of phosphoric acid.

DAP is largely used as fertiliser. When applied as food for plants, it enhances the phosphate content in the soil and improves crop nutrient. It is also used as a yeast nutrient in wine-making besides being fire retardant.

The Haldia facility has phosphatic fertiliser production capacity of 1.2 million tonnes an annum which is sold largely in West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand. The company imports muriate of potash and DAP. It also supplies organic materials and other specialty fertilisers such as calcium nitrate and zinc sulphate.

Besides phosphate fertilisers, the company also produces urea and potassium-based agro-nutrients for crops. It makes urea at its Babrala fertiliser complex in Uttar Pradesh. The complex has an installed capacity of 864,000 tonnes a year, which constitutes about 12 per cent of the total urea produced by the private sector.

Kenya plant

Tata Chemicals also announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary in Kenya has restarted soda ash production at its Magadi plant. The flooding caused by heavy rains had disrupted production at the plant during the June quarter.

Tata Chemicals Magadi mines soda ash from naturally occurring deposits of an ore known as trona, located at the base of the Rift Valley, at Lake Magadi in Kenya. The company has a capacity of over 0.35 million tonnes of soda ash. Over 95 per cent of the product is exported to South East Asia, West Asia, India and Africa.

The company also supplies refined soda produced by crushing and washing the trona ore. Additionally, it manufactures salt from the waters of Lake Magadi for the Kenyan market.

Tata Chemicals shares on the BSE were down 0.16 per cent at Rs 310 on Friday.

suresh.iyengar@thehindu.co.in