Urea prices stabilised in provinces

Minister says supply to Punjab increased by 72% for Rabi season

ISLAMABAD:

The government said on Wednesday that the urea prices had been restored to controlled rates of Rs1,768 per bag, following punitive measures taken in Punjab against price hike and increasing supplies to the province.

The pricing structure is being maintained in other provinces as well. The decision was announced during a meeting held with Industries and Production Minister Khusro Bakhtyar and Food Security Minister Fakhar Imam in the chair.

It was attended by the representatives of fertiliser manufacturers, provincial departments and senior officials of the Petroleum Division.

The forum was convened to supervise the urea supplies amid the Rabi season and reviewed the supply and stock position, and production targets of urea in the current month for the sowing season.

The meeting was informed that the pricing structure was being maintained in the provinces. It was told that the urea prices had been restored to control rates of Rs1768/bag by taking punitive measures in Punjab.

The meeting issued guidelines for the provincial departments and the fertiliser manufacturers to identify the factors involved in black marketing and the oversupply of urea in order to avoid any market stress during the ongoing Rabi season.

On the occasion, Production Minister Khusro Bakhtyar reiterated that the demand for urea would be met through domestic production of 3.4 million tons this year.

He said that the government ensured uninterrupted gas supplies to the plants to boost domestic production for the Rabi season.

The minister directed the relevant authorities to continue border monitoring to avoid inter-provincial movement of urea supplies and rationalisation of district-wise provision of urea for the market correction.

He said that the urea supplies to Punjab had increased from 64% to 72%.