Urea sales for October have declined by a significant 14% year-on-year and 2% month-on-month, clocking in at 411,000 tons, according to data released by the National Fertilizer Development Centre (NFDC).
On the other hand, Diammonium phosphate (DAP) off-take registered a phenomenal growth of 234% on a monthly basis while 1% on a yearly basis.
Furthermore, on a cumulative basis, for the first 10 months of calendar year 2014 (10MCY14), urea off-take declined by 3% to 4,509,000 tons while DAP off-take increased by 1% to 1,054,000 tons compared to the same period last year.
Moreover, the average urea and DAP price has declined by 0.6% and 4.4% to Rs1,888 per 50 kilogramme (Kg) and Rs3,417 per 50 kg, respectively from last month’s average prices.
Urea sales in Sindh must have declined due to a three-to-four-week delay in sowing of Rabi crops, Sindh Abadgar Board President Abdul Majid Nizamani told The Express Tribune.
The main reasons of the delay in Rabi crops include late arrival of water for Kharif crops and late harvesting of sugar cane in Sindh during the last few weeks, he added.
“I hope things will normalise in December which also settles the urea sales in Sindh,” he said.
Speaking on the conditions in Punjab, he said unlike Sindh, everything has been normal in Punjab as far as sowing and harvesting of sugarcane and urea sales are concerned.
According to a last month’s report of InvestCap Research, there has been a sufficient supply of urea to match Rabi season’s demand.
As far as the availability of fertiliser is concerned, the total availability of urea during Rabi season was estimated to be 2.7 million tons including 2.38 million tons of domestic production and 185,000 tons of imported urea.
Similarly, 1,062,000 tons of DAP was expected to be available for Rabi season, comprising 340,000 of local production and 270,000 tons from imported supply. During the Rabi season, both fertilisers will be available, according to the expected demand.
Although this year floods did affect major crops of the country, their impact was not as severe as it was in previous years. Analysts say this has helped stabilise urea sales in the 10 months of CY14.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 28th, 2014.
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