The only caustic soda and soda ash producer in the country that supplies raw material to 65 local companies was forced to stop production last week, after Lake Abijata retreated by another kilometer.

Abijata Soda Ash Enterprise has no access to the lake that supplies it with the acidic water it needs for the production of materials used for making glass, ceramics and soap. Operated for close to 16 years, since the establishment of the factory in 1990 at a cost of 26 million Br, the projection made during the feasibility study has proved to be incorrect.

Lake Abijata was predicted to stay available for  375 years even if it was to be used to produce one million tones of acid a year. The Enterprise's annual production capacity was never over 20,000tn.

A year ago, the factory had to drop the use of 16 of its 17 artificial ponds it used to trap water for evaporation. It is after the water from the most acidic lakes in the country disappeared that it was to be collected. The volume of the water reduced drastically, four kilometers from the company pumps.

"The management and the staff tried their best in the past year to keep the factory alive," Getachew Abera, general manager of the factory told Fortune. "We have reached a point where it is no longer possible."

Recently, the water moved away by another kilometer, making water pumping impossible for the factory. Located 189.5Km south of the capital, the factory stopped production beginning last week, thereby forcing other companies dependent on its raw material to import from aboard.

The Addis Abeba Bottle and Glass Factory is one of the largest buyers of acid from these companies. Its managers, who said they have been following the situation closely at Abijata, imported 500tn of the raw material from Kenya for the first time in its operation life.

The other long-time buyer of Abijata, Gulele Soap Factory, started buying caustic soda after floating a public tender to local importers: it is to buy a kilo of it for five Birr, one Birr more from what the local producer used to sell for it.

Local buyers are also disadvantaged with the production halt of Abijata in credit supply and proximity of transportations, according to Kassaye Girmay, general manager of Gulele.

The management of Abijata Soda Ash Enterprise are now eyeing another lake 20Km from where their factory is located: Lake Shala. They have submitted their proposal, estimated to cost 100 million dollars, to the State Enterprises Supervisory and Privatization Agency.