Pyongyang, October 28 (KCNA) -- The Hungnam Fertilizer Complex, a giant base of chemical industry in the DPRK, began producing fertilizers with raw materials available in the country, while cutting down the consumption of electricity.

The complex completed a large-scale ammonia production process, the first-stage gasification project.

The project makes it possible to produce fertilizers with lignite rich in east coastal areas as raw materials, while sharply reducing the production cost and remarkably increasing the output.

The project was finished in the wake of a large-scale anthracite gasification project completed on a modern basis at the Namhung Youth Chemical Complex on the west coast of the country. The completed projects are a triumph of President Kim Il Sung's idea of building a self-reliant chemical industry and a result of the country's self-supporting economy.

The Hungnam Fertilizer Complex plays an important role in the nation's grain output.

The Japanese imperialists built a fertilizer factory there in 1927 when they were occupying Korea, with the aim of solving the food shortage in Japan.

But they severely demolished the factory when they suffered a defeat in the Second World War.

Though it was rebuilt after the liberation of the country, it was reduced to ashes again in the Fatherland Liberation War (1950-1953).

After the ceasefire, the factory was reconstructed on a modern and enlarged basis.

In his lifetime, the President provided field guidance to the complex many times to indicate ways for its development. His famous proposition "Fertilizer immediately means rice and rice, socialism" came during his field guidance to the complex.

General Secretary Kim Jong Il took a measure to update the complex's production processes so that they could be based on domestically available raw materials.

The complex is now working on the second-stage gasification project.