Fertiliser sector claims CCP has no authority over it

Industry members deny cartelisation; attribute price hike to gas curtailment.

ISLAMABAD: The fertiliser industry has said that the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has no power to take action against the industry for alleged cartelisation which had led to a substantial increase in urea prices.  

The Fertilizers Manufac­turers of Pakistan Advisory Council (FMPAC), led by its Executive Director Shahab Khawaja who is also former secretary Industries and Production, in its interaction with journalists claimed that the CCP was a regulatory body, whereas the fertiliser industry had a de-regulated market and therefore, the commission could not take action against them

The council said that the fertiliser industry will cut urea prices by up to Rs200 per bag if the government ensures continued gas supply. However, they also warned that the industry will raise the price of urea if the price of gas was increased.

Council members said that fertiliser plants were set up under the 2001 policy  and they were paying the price as per that policy to attract investors.

Khawaja said that the government is extending an average subsidy of Rs225 per bag of urea, however journalists from the crowd claimed that some fertiliser plants are getting up subsidy up to Rs300 per bag.

Earlier, Nadeem Tariq of Dawood Hercules, claimed that the government was not giving any subsidy to this sector.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 19^th,  2013.

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