Bakhtiar says urea stock available, no need for panic buying
Industries and Production Minister Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar on Monday said that unlike the shortage of urea in the international market, Pakistan has surplus stock for the Rabi season.
"Urea price per bag in the international market is around Rs11,000 while in Pakistan it is only Rs1,800, therefore, the huge difference is tempting the local dealers and profiteers to hoard urea in bulk," he said while addressing a press conference along with National Food Security and Research Minister Syed Fakhar Imam in Islamabad.
Bakhtiar told farmers not to worry about the shortage of urea as the hoarders could not afford to hold the stock for a longer period.
He said the actual production of urea fertilizer during the last Rabi season was 3.17 million metric ton (MT) while production during the current season is estimated at 3.255 million MT, which is eight per cent higher than last year and is expected to go up 3.355 million MT (11% higher) if Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim Limited (FFBL) is provided full gas.
The minister said that the northern plants would remain operational till March of 2022 and additional gas would be provided to FFBL that would remain operational for the next three months.
Bakhtiar further said that plants showed a daily production of 20,000 tons of Urea, meaning that in the period from January to March 2022, 1.8 million tons would be available in addition to the existing mill stock of 70,000 tons.
He maintained that Punjab has been supplied with five per cent extra Urea in the first three months while in other provinces supply is even greater than the last season.
Read More: Action sought against urea hoarders
The minister said that to stop the smuggling and hoarding of urea fertilizer, the government had devised a comprehensive monitoring system to keep a check on its transportation.
Since November 15, he said a web portal for monitoring of Urea was launched under which all factory dispatches with dealers' names, location and truck numbers are entered by manufacturers in real-time.
He added that once Urea arrives, it is sold at a controlled rate by the dealer under the supervision of the district/Agri administration.
Moreover, Imam said the country recorded a bumper wheat crop of 27.5 million MT last year while this year too the production would be at a record high of over 28.9 million MT.
He maintained that as per the target, Punjab would produce 21.9 million MT of wheat, Sindh four million MT while the rest would be produced by other provinces.
The minister added that so far sowing of wheat for over 96 per cent of the total area had been completed.
He said that prices of wheat and wheat flour in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) had not increased due to timely action of the federal government. However, due to poor planning of the Sindh government, the price of a 20 kg wheat flour bag had gone up to Rs1400 compared to Rs1100 in Punjab and K-P.