AlKimia, in which Tunisian Chemical Group (GCT) is the reference shareholder with 39.1% of the capital, has just published its half-yearly accounts for the first 6 months of 2024.
The highlights of the period in question show that production of sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) at June 30, 2024 was 10,960 tons, compared with 12,920 tons produced in the first half of 2023.
This fall in production by two thousand tons ‘is due on the one hand to the shortage of phosphoric acid, which led to the shutdown of our plants, and on the other hand to the fall in demand for STPP from our customers’, explained the company’s management.
First, the shortage of STPP
According to the same source, ‘this situation of unstable phosphoric acid supplies, which our company has been suffering from for more than eight years, has led most of our major customers to abandon STPP and replace it with other substitute products with cheaper and more stable prices.
However, even if the prices of the main raw material, phosphoric acid, have stabilized somewhat compared to 2022 and 2023, the levels reached are still quite high and production costs remain high, making it impossible to compete with Russia and China.
Then there was GCT’s pricing policy, which had no regard for its subsidiary
The soluble crystallised MAP (12-61-0) production unit produced only 5,827 tons in the first half of 2024, compared with 1,746 tons in the first half of 2023, out of a nominal capacity of 25,000 tons per year.
This was due to the high prices charged by the Tunisian Chemical Group for the supply of ammonia and phosphoric acid. The prices charged by the GCT make soluble MAP produced by ALKIMIA uncompetitive. As a result, the soluble MAP plant was closed for more than 11 months in 2023 and for more than three (3) months in the first half of 2024.
The unstable situation in which it finds itself makes it very difficult to save AlKimia, which nevertheless has the merit of adding value to a national product by producing finished products for export to Europe, the United States of America and the MENA region. This is bearing in mind that the rescue plan is based on guaranteeing the availability and continuity of supply by the Tunisian Chemical Group of the two raw materials required at prices that are better studied to ensure the operation of the company’s plants.
Recourse to a financial restructuring plan
As at June 30, 2024, the Company had a turnover of TND 62,792,007 compared to TND 61,660,816 as at June 30, 2023.
The implementation of the first stage of the company’s restructuring plan has just been triggered with the completion of the company’s capital increase of 20 million dinars.
The last subscriptions for this increase were closed in June 2024 and the first payments have been made. It should be noted that this increase consists of a cash increase of 12 million dinars and an increase through the conversion of receivables from the chemical group of up to 8 million dinars.
