Tata Chemicals shares fell to a day low of Rs 625 after Kenya’s President ordered the company to cease all its operations in the country.

Here’s what triggered the fall. Kenyan President William Ruto said he has directed Tata Chemicals Magadi, the company’s local unit, to shut down operations entirely.

His argument was that the firm has held mining rights in the region for close to a century but hasn’t built enough local infrastructure, generated jobs, or set up downstream processing within Kenya.

Reports suggest most of the mined material was being exported as-is rather than turned into finished products locally.

This is actually the second blow in a matter of weeks. Back on 28 July, the Kenyan government had already paused mining activity at the same site and halted the company’s soda ash exports.

At that point, Tata Chemicals said it had handed over all the documents the authorities had requested and was simply waiting for a response. The Kenya business is not a minor part of the company’s operations either.

It accounted for around 6% of Tata Chemicals’ total EBITDA in FY26, and the plant produces close to 350,000 tonnes of soda ash a year, a raw material that goes into glass, detergents, and various chemical products used across industries.

Coming to the stock itself. At 10:25 am, Tata Chemicals was trading at Rs 629.15 on the NSE, down 1.90% or Rs 12.20 from Thursday’s close of Rs 641.35.

The stock has now fallen around 16% since the beginning of the year, and this latest news out of Kenya has only added to that pressure.

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