Fertiliser sales down seven per cent

Floods, higher prices dampen demand.

KARACHI: Fertiliser sales fell seven per cent to 6.6 million tons in the first 10 months of this year in the wake of a massive decline in demand during August following the floods.

Sales of diammonium phosphate (DAP), a type of fertiliser, registered a decline of 15 per cent to 1.1 million tons during January to October, according to the latest data released by the National Fertiliser Development Centre (NFDC).

The drop came on account of high DAP prices during the period and the floods which saw August sales nosedive 75 per cent to mere 50,000 tons, said JS Global Capital analyst Bilal Qamar.

Company-wise break-up shows that Engro’s sales rose 19 per cent while Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim Limited’s (FFBL) sales fell 13 per cent. Fauji Fertiliser Company (FFC) managed to sell 35,000 tons of DAP, which it had imported earlier this year. Sales of urea, a highly used fertiliser, also continued to drop, registering a fall of nine per cent to 4.6 million tons compared with 5.1 million tons sold in the same period last year. High urea prices coupled with the recent flooding were major factors behind the decrease.

FFC and FFBL urea sales declined by 10 and 18 per cent, respectively, while Engro Fertiliser’s sales declined by six per cent.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 1^st, 2010.