February 28, 2006	Tuesday	Muharram 29, 1427

ISLAMABAD, Feb 27: The Privatization Commission has finalized all arrangements to hold bidding for the sale of Pak American Fertilizer Company Limited (PAFL) in Karachi on Tuesday.

Privatization and Investment Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh would chair the bidding ceremony, stated an official announcement issued here on Monday.

PAFL is the first fertilizer manufacturing concern in Pakistan. Out of eight parties that have completed due diligence for the transaction, five have become eligible to participate in the bidding. They have deposited the required earnest money of Rs350 million each within the stipulated period.

The parties include: Ibrahim Fibres Ltd, Faisalabad; Jehangir Siddiqui Capital Market Ltd, Karachi; Kohinoor Textile Mills Ltd and Associates, Lahore; Nishat (Chunian) Ltd, Lahore; and Pak Arab Fertilizers (Pvt) Ltd, Multan.

The two rounds of bidding process will be conducted in the presence of representatives of the print and electronic media.

During the first round, the bidders will drop their sealed bids in a transparent box. The box will be opened and the bids would be read over by the media representatives.

The second round will be an open auction among the top three contenders. The result of bidding will be considered by the Privatization Commission Board to formulate its recommendations for a decision by the Cabinet Committee on Privatization.

PAFL is located in Iskandarabad (Daudkhel), district Mianwali, and produces 1,050 tons of urea per day. It is a subsidiary of National Fertilizer Corporation of Pakistan (NFC). Japan Bank for International Development provided the loan for setting up of the fertilizer plant.

The plant was commissioned in 1999. The old plant was closed down in 1997 and a new ammonia/urea plant commenced commercial production in 1999. The new plant is designed to produce 600 tons per day ammonia and 1,050 tons urea daily using natural gas as feed and fuel.

Both the plants have been designed by TOYO Engineering Japan. Ammonia plant is under license from Kellog International, USA. The plants are latest in design. The company possesses over 11,481 kanals of land comprising 6,432 kanals for factory, 2,818 for housing colony and 2.230 kanals for experimental farm.