Page 13 - DMEA Week 47 2021

DMEA FUELS DMEA

BOST receives long-delayed

shipment of US-produced pipes

AFRICA BULK Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST), led by President Nana Akufo-Addo, has finally
Ghana’s state fuel import concern, has finally paid the $63.2mn purchase price for the US-pro-
taken delivery of the steel pipes that will be duced pipes. It has also spent $8mn to refurbish
used to expand the Tema-Akosombo petro- the pipes, which were in poor condition after
leum product pipeline after a delay of 12 years. being left in Houston for so long, and has paid
According to a GhanaWeb report dated Novem- $2.1mn to cover shipping costs.
ber 22, the company received the shipment of BOST had originally ordered the pipes with
12-inch (304.8-mm) pipes on November 19. the intent of constructing two fuel pipelines to
As noted above, the delivery is long overdue. serve Ghana’s interior regions and of expanding
BOST had originally ordered the materials from the storage capacity of the Mami Water termi-
American Tank & Vessel (ATV), a US-based nal from 120,000 tonnes to 230,000 tonnes. (The
company, in 2009 with the intent of using part Mami Water terminal connects the Accra Plains
of a $79.4mn credit from the US Export-Import Depot (APD), Ghana’s main fuel import facility,
Bank (Eximbank) to settle its bill. However, the to the Akosombo petroleum products depot.)
government of Ghana, which was then led by It has now revised its plans and will use the
President John Atta Mills, did not complete the pipes to expand the diameter of the Tema-
payment process. The succeeding administra- Akosombo line from 6 inches (152.4 mm) to 12
tion, led by President John Dramani Mahama, inches (304.8 mm). Edwin Alfred Provencal, the
also failed to resolve the matter. As a result, the managing director of BOST, said in September
pipes remained in the port of Houston and were of this year that the expansion project would sig-
not sent to Ghana. nificantly boost fuel supplies in Ghana’s interior
Now, though, Ghana’s current government, regions.™

PETROCHEMICALS

Gubretas withdraws from

tender citing price issues

MIDDLE EAST GUBRETAS said last week that it has withdrawn crisis is deepening with additional supply chain
its offer submitted in a fertilizer purchase tender problems. Turkey’s Agricultural Credit Cooper-
held on September 15 by Turkey’s agriculture ative (Tarim Kredi) has a 76% stake in Gubretas.
ministry, citing booming prices along with sup- while 24% is listed on Borsa Istanbul. An indi-
ply problems. In the tender run by Tarim Islet- vidual called Oguzhan Sahinkaya holds a 9%
meleri Genel Mudurlugu (TIGEM/Agricultural stake in the company via Borsa Istanbul.
Enterprises General Directorate), Gubretas was Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, hit-
the second-best bidder. However, on October 15, ting out at prices charged by private supermar-
TIGEM invited Gubretas to sign the agreement kets, lately ordered Tarim Kredi to open more
after the top bidder withdrew its offer. stores with “reasonable” prices.
TIGEM has not accepted Gubretas’ applica- Prices at Tarim Kredi stores are higher than
tion to withdraw its bid and Gubretas was on the targeted hard discount chains while Tarim
November 16 banned from participating in gov- Kredi’s fertilizer producing unit is withdrawing
ernment tenders for a six-month period. from government tenders. Critics said he was
Gubretas will object to the ban at an admin- deflecting from his own responsibility for high
istrative court, saying that it was a force majeure inflation. It is relatively easy to sell ‘hot headlines’
situation. to the media but agriculture is a real job. Turkey,
Revenues from government tenders showed say cynics, is a perfect semi-colony, with coloni-
a tiny 0.30% share in Gubretas’ 2020 revenues sation in the postcolonial era beginning with the
and 0.15% in January-September 2021 revenues. transformation of domestic agriculture into an
The story here is that fertilizer prices have import-dependent model, which is supposed to
been booming on soaring energy prices and the increase efficiency.™

Week 47 25•November•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P13