In a move that will considerably enhance capacity for Native Storage Facility, a new warehouse for the ammonium nitrate industry will be complemented with the construction of an adjacent emulsion plant in Namibia.
According to Thomas Jonas, the company’s managing director, this is the third warehouse constructed by the company, and along with the emulsion plant, increases capacity significantly.“The three warehouses each have a capacity of 1528 tons of one-ton bags and 2100 tons of 1.25-ton bags of ammonium nitrate,” he said.
“At current full capacity, in all the warehouses combined, we can store 4584 tons of one-ton bags and 6300 tons of 1.25-ton bags.”Jonas said the new emulsion plant, currently nearing the end of construction, would be able to manufacture 250 tons of ammonium nitrate per day.“This capacity can and will be increased as per the demand in the market.”
He said warehousing and distribution in Namibia were governed by the country’s Explosive Act and had to adhere to strict regulations that were in line with international safety standards.“Due to the high costs and turnaround time when it comes to governance and regulations of specialised warehousing we are not seeing as much development as one would like. Specialised warehousing costs are also a challenge in the current economic environment.”