LAHORE, May 27: The National Fertilizers Marketing Ltd (NFML) has not yet received any directions from the federal government to lay off its employees who would become “surplus” after the Pak Saudi Fertilizer Ltd is handed over to the new buyer before the month of May is out.

“We haven’t received any direction in black and white from the (federal industries and production) ministry in this respect,” NFML managing director Brig Shaukat Hayat (retired) told Dawnon Monday.

The PSFL, acquired by the Fauji Fertilizer Company for Rs7.330 billion at a rate of Rs135 per share, is likely to be transferred to the new owner by May 30 on payment of the sale price.

Some 550,000 tonnes of urea manufactured by the PSFL accounts for 29 per cent of the total fertilizers marketed by the NFML a year. It is termed by the officials the “backbone” of the NFC because it is the most profitable unit operated by the corporation.

The decision to lay off 28 per cent or around 200 employees of the NFML and its holding company —- the NFC —- was announced by industries and production minister Razzak Dawood on March 30 at a press conference as part of the plan to rightsize the NFC and NFML staff before the end of June following the privatization of the PSFL.

He had stated the staff would be offered a golden handshake as per existing rules. “The sale of the PSFL has reduced the role of the NFC, rendering some of its staff working at its marketing and head office organizations redundant,” he had stated.

The minister did not say how much would the government be able to save after laying off the NFC staff. However, NFC sources told this reporter that the NFC would have to incur what they termed “losses” of Rs21 million paid by the PSFL to meet the incidentals of three other smaller units managed by the corporation and cross subsidy of about Rs20 million borne by it to offset the losses of the Haripur Phosphate Fertilizer Ltd (HPFL).

Apart from the PSFL, the Pak Arab Fertilizer Company is stated to be the only other profitable unit under the NFC. The remaining three —- the Pak American Fertilizer Ltd, the Hazara Phosphate Fertilizer Ltd, the Lyallpur Chemical Fertilizer Company —- are either operating at a breakeven basis or losing money.

“It would be difficult for the PFL, the second most profitable NFC unit, to compensate for Rs41 million lost by the rest of the three NFC units after the sale of the Pak Saudi as it itself is in process of being privatized,” an official of the NFC said. NFC officials fear that around 300 employees of the NFML would lose their jobs after the PSFL is handed over to the new management which has acquired 90 per cent holding in the company.

“There will be no need for having a marketing company once the Pak Arab is also sold to the private sector,” the officials said. The PFL with the annual production of 800,000 tons of fertilizers accounts for 44 per cent of the entire NFML portfolio at present. Its share would increase to 62 per cent after the transfer of the Pak Saudi to the FFC. “The urea market share of the FFC will rise to 58 per cent from the existing 45 per cent after acquisition of the Pak Saudi (with total market share of 13 per cent) that would virtually establish its monopoly in the country’s urea market,” the NFC officials said.