Profert was first founded in 1999 after closure of AECI’s ammonia and urea plant at Modderfontein as well as the ammonia plant at Milnerton, when three highly experienced fertilizer industry experts joined forces. The dramatic shortfall in nitrogen availability precipitated by these closures represented a critical turning point in the competitive environment of the South African fertilizer industry. During this time dependence on imports for over 50% of the country’s nitrogen requirements had created an opportunity for new entrants.
Profert had planned its entrance to the market for 18 months and started life as a joint venture between Senwes Limited and three individuals with extensive knowledge of the fertilizer industry. It took no less than five years for Profert to firmly establish itself in the market, and since then it has evolved from Profert to become Profert Holdings.
Profert Fertilizer is still the core business of Profert Holdings. It specialises in granular and liquid fertilizers, which includes its premium Black range (Black UREA and Black DAP), a bio-organic coated granular fertilizer range, and its liquid fertilizer range called Amplify. Profert has mixing plants in all the provinces in South Africa, produce 800 to 1200 tonnes of fertilizer per day.
It is well documented that the agricultural practices of the past were mainly focused on yield rather than nutritional value (quantity rather than quality). Productivity was expressed in ‘tonnes per hectare per annum’. Profert Fertilizer has redefined this mantra for itself and its clients to a productivity measure of ‘nutritional value of food per tonne per hectare per season’.
Profert Holdings is currently 13 years old and over the past five years it has experienced explosive growth with a big diversification drive to hedge business risks. Profert Holdings invested in 19 external through various mergers, acquisitions and partnership agreements.
To maintain focus amongst all its various affiliated, Profert decided to reorganise and divide its businesses into groups or Clusters.