Engro story began in 1957 when Pak Stanvac – an Esso/Mobil joint venture – stumbled upon vast deposits of natural gas in Mari while pursuing viable oil exploration in Sindh. Pak Stanvac’s focus was exclusively on oil exploration; however, the discovery shifted the impetus to Esso, which decided to invest in the massive industrial potential of Mari gas field. Esso proposed the establishment of a giant urea plant in Daharki, about ten miles from the Mari gas fields, which would use natural gas produced as its primary raw material to churn out urea fertilizer.
Talks with the Government of Pakistan bore fruit in 1964 and an agreement was signed allowing Esso to set up a urea plant with an annual capacity of 173,000 tons. Esso brought in state-of-the-art design, commercially tried facilities, and a highly distinguished pool of technical expertise to ensure a smooth start-up. The total investment made was US$46 million – it was the single largest foreign investment made in Pakistan to date then. The plant started production on December 4, 1968.
To boost sales, a full-fledged marketing organization was established which undertook agronomic programs to educate farmers of Pakistan. As the nation’s first branded fertilizer manufacturer, the Company helped modernize traditional farming practices and boost farm yields, directly impacting the quality of life of the farmers, their families and the nation at large. Farmer educational programs increased consumption of fertilizers in Pakistan; paving way for the Company’s branded urea called “Engro” – an acronym for “Energy for Growth”.
In 1978, Esso became Exxon as part of an international name change. The Company was, therefore, renamed Exxon Chemical Pakistan Limited.
In 1991, Exxon decided to divest its fertilizer business on a global basis. The employees of Exxon Chemical Pakistan Limited – in partnership with leading international and local financial institutions – bought out Exxon’s 75% equity. This was perhaps the most successful employee buy-out in Pakistan’s corporate history to date. The Company was renamed Engro Chemicals Pakistan Limited. The Company thrived with its consistent financial performance, growth of its core fertilizer business, and diversification into other enterprises. A major plant capacity upgrade at Daharki coincided with the employee-led buyout in 1991. Engro also relocated fertilizer manufacturing plants from the UK and US to its Daharki plant site, done for the first time internationally. Over the years that followed, Engro Chemicals Pakistan Limited started venturing into other sectors namely foods, energy, chemical storage, handling, trading, industrial automation and petrochemicals.
By 2009, Engro was already fast-growing and had diversified its business portfolio in as many as seven different industries. These continuous expansions necessitated a broad restructuring in Engro Chemicals Pakistan Limited, which subsequently demerged to form a new Engro subsidiary – Engro Fertilizers Limited.
After the necessary legal procedures and approvals, the Sindh High Court sanctioned the demerger on December 9, 2009, which became effective from January 1, 2010. Subsequently, all fertilizer business assets and liabilities have been transferred to Engro Fertilizers Limited against the issue of shares to the parent company Engro Corporation Limited.
The Company undertook its largest urea expansion project in 2007. The state-of-the-art plant EnVen 3.0 stands tall at 125 meters – dubbed as the tallest structure in Pakistan. The total cost of this expansion was approximately US $1.1 billion, making Engro one of the largest urea manufacturers in Pakistan. This has substantially reduced the cost of urea imports to the national exchequer.
In 2013, the Company forayed into the capital markets to fund development capex on securing additional gas supplies along with restructuring the balance sheet to optimize the capital structure of the Company. The IPO was a roaring success, oversubscribed four times in the book-building process and three times during public issue.
In 2019, the Company has ventured into logistics space with 135 plus trucks in service, aiming to deliver “movement with precision”. As Engro forges ahead, it aims to build on its world-class experience of five decades and its vision to transform the agricultural landscape of Pakistan.