The Hindu Business Line : Fertiliser sales up despite delayed monsoon

DESPITE a prolonged dry spell till July 25, urea and DAP (di-ammonium phosphate) sales across the country have registered a significant increase till the end of last month, compared with the corresponding period last year.

According to industry sources, while urea sales registered an increase of 17.14 per cent, DAP sales rose by 69.77 per cent. The urea sales have increased by over 132 per cent in Karnataka, 111 per cent in Tamil Nadu, 91 per cent in Pondicherry, 57 per cent in Kerala, and 26 per cent in Andhra Pradesh. The rise in DAP sales is also due to a significant increase in demand in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharastra, Haryana and West Bengal.

In fact, in anticipation of supply gaps in urea, the Union Government had requested fertiliser manufacturers for additional production during the current year. In this regard, the Government had also accepted the offer made by the Hyderabad-based Nagarjuna Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd (NFCL) for an additional production of 1.2 lakh tonnes, Mr V. Satish Kumar, NFCL Chief - Business Monitoring and Coordination, said.

This apart, with the revival of monsoon, the Union Government had so far allocated 43,000 tonnes of imported urea for marketing by NFCL. The company was currently handling two vessels, one each at Kakinada and Visakhapatnam ports nominated by the Government as part of the port handling agreement, Mr Kumar told Business Line.

Delayed monsoons in the North did not result in any slide in the sale of urea though the rise in sales was more subdued compared to the South. In the northern States, industry sources stated, the highest increase of 100 per cent in urea sales was registered in Arunachal Pradesh followed by Meghalaya (88.1 per cent), West Bengal (52.08), Chattisgarh (49.02), Uttaranchal (33.46), Himachal Pradesh (29.07), Punjab (22.58), Jharkhand (22.04), Uttar Pradesh (16.69) and Bihar (10.69).

In the case of DAP, the highest increase of 194.31 per cent was registered in West Bengal followed by Haryana (166.17 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (163.6), Karnataka (154.08), Tamil Nadu (153.95), Maharashtra (100.05), Uttaranchal (70.37), Chattisgarh (55.51), Jharkhand (49.69), Gujarat (49.13), Kerala (45.95), Assam (45.3), Madhya Pradesh (39.27) and Uttar Pradesh (34.21).

With regard to NFCL, Mr Kumar said, the company had sold 2.5 lakh tonnes of urea so far in Andhra Pradesh. The company's sales in Orissa had picked-up where it had sold 34,000 tonnes and was looking forward for a sale of 1.4 lakh tonnes during this Kharif. NFCL had developed West Bengal as its second major market for urea after AP and it was poised to achieve 1-lakh tonnes of urea sales in the State in current season.

Similarly, NFCL was confident of selling its allocation of 25,000 tonnes of urea in Karnataka and 35,000 tonnes in Chattisgarh. In Andhra Pradesh, the urea sales of 2.63 lakh tonnes till July end were higher compared to corresponding period of past three Kharif seasons. Sales during August and September in the State were expected to be between 6 lakh to 6.5 lakh tonnes raising the total consumption of urea in AP in the current season to around 9 lakh tonnes, which would be 6 per cent higher than that of kharif 2003.

In view of the prevailing agro-climatic conditions, Mr Kumar said, NFCL was envisaging bright prospects for the ensuing Rabi season. The company was expecting to sell 13.85 lakh tonnes of urea this year.

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