To match the monsoon, Centre okays urea import

With weatherman predicting middling monsoons, the downpours across the country has caught the fertiliser industry unawares. The plentiful ra...

With weatherman predicting middling monsoons, the downpours across the country has caught the fertiliser industry unawares. The plentiful rains this year is forcing the country to import urea after a gap of nearly two years.

With heavy rains expected to continue for at least a while, a demand-supply shortfall of about six lakh tonnes of urea has been assessed in the country. To bridge the gap, the Steering Committee of Secretaries on July 11 approved import of three lakh tonnes of urea in August-September.

Kribhco will bring in 50,000 tonnes, Indian Potash Limited has been assigned two lakh tonnes and MMTC Limited 50,000 tonnes. The Fertiliser Ministry will issue the formal instruction to the identified agencies next week, industry officials said.

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The imports are on government account and are separate from the blanket permission given to state trading enterprises IPL, MMTC and State Trading Corporation to import urea for manufacturing complex fertilisers.

The last urea imports on government account were in 2001-02, when 2.23 lakh tonnes were shipped to bridge the supply shortages. There were no imports in 2000-01 and 2002-03.

Sources said that though stock levels in mid-July were higher by seven lakh tonnes than last year’s 31 lakhs, consumption trends during the first fortnight of July triggered enough concern to build inventories. Sales during the fortnight were 7.20 lakh tonnes, compared to 5.70 lakh tonnes in the same period last year.

Demand during the kharif season is estimated at 102 lakh tonnes, compared to domestic output of 95 lakh tonnes. In July-September alone, sales are projected to touch 80 lakhs if the rain gods continue to be merciful.

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So far, the cumulative rainfall between June and July 16 was normal or excess in 31 of the 36 meteorological sub-divisions. It was deficient or scanty in the remaining areas.

The wide spread of rainfall coverage has resulted in fresh demands from hitherto unharvested areas. Urea, a nitrogenous fertiliser, is required in the sowing season to provide growth stimulants.

As for the availability of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) — a fertiliser required in the crop maturity stage — the country is sufficient for the kharif season, said sources.

Inventories of DAP were at 16 lakh tonnes while demand had plummeted 43 per cent from a year ago to 6 lakh tonnes. The sharp fall in demand was reflected in scaling down of production by nearly 50 per cent to 9 lakh tonnes.

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Availability of muriate of potash, which is imported by India, was also balanced with the kharif demand, industry officials said.

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