ZChP, ZAP align to fight Poland high gas feedstock

21 May 2008 14:49 [Source: ICIS news]

PRAGUE (ICIS news)--Zaklady Chemiczne Police (ZChP) has entered into a strategic alliance with fellow Polish nitrogen fertiliser maker Zaklady Azotowe Pulawy (ZAP) aimed “at cutting the fast-rising costs of natural gas", it said on Wednesday .

The two producers will now negotiate feedstock natural gas prices together, a ZChP spokesman said.

The firms would also look at acquiring Polish and foreign suppliers of natural resources such as gas, sulphur and potash, he added.

Polish Oil & Gas Co (PGNiG) is the dominant distributor of their natural gas supplies.

PGNiG last month put up its natural gas price by 14.3%, citing the rising cost of imports from Russia, although it agreed a 2.8% discount for fertilizer makers.

ZChP and ZAP remain majority owned by the state, but under a new privatisation programme recently it would sell its 68.2% in ZChP and 50.73% in ZAP in 2009 or 2010 in public offerings on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Polish base chemicals producer Ciech has expressed an interest in acquiring ZChP and ZAP, also a producer of melamine and caprolactam.

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By: Will Conroy
+44 20 8652 3214

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