The Hindu Business Line : Fertiliser stocks get ‘near normal’ monsoon boost

Mumbai, March 17 A sustained rally in the securities market over the past one week and the ‘near normal’ monsoon forecast on Wednesday brought cheers to fertiliser stocks.

While most of the fertiliser counters were already seeing some activity over the week, in consonance with the general market sentiment, there was renewed interest on Thursday, with most of them gaining between 4 per cent and 13 per cent, with one scrip even reporting a 23 per cent gain.

Forecast

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD)’s forecast of another good monsoon this year — termed as ‘near normal’ or 99 per cent of the long period average — further lifted the fertiliser counters.

However, Mr Ajay Parmar, Head of Research, Emkay Shares and Stock Brokers, dismissed the timely monsoon arrival and ‘near normal’ rainfall as a major reason for the rally witnessed among the fertilisers stocks. “The fertiliser stocks moved up with the general sentiment in the market and most recently beaten stocks have moved up. It is too early to talk of a normal monsoon,” Mr Parmar said.

However, the scrips did move sharply up on the IMD announcement, as it is evident from their record monthly and weekly gains. Chambal Fertiliser & Chemicals, owned by K K Birla Group, gained more than 23 per cent, closing the day at Rs 70.05 on the BSE. The stock had moved up by more than 39 per cent over the last one week, and 43.69 per cent over the last one month.

Another K K Birla Group company Zuari Industries went up by 12.61 per cent; the stock registered a weekly rise of 14.42 per cent and a monthly rise of 29.30 per cent. Other significant gainers on Thursday were National Fertiliser (12.95 per cent), Nagarjuna Fertilisers & Chemicals (12.91 per cent), Deepak Fertilisers (6.89 per cent), Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertiliser Company (6.28 per cent), Coromandel Fertilisers (6.21 per cent), Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilisers (4.96 per cent) and Gujarat State Fertilisers & Chemicals Ltd gained 4.65 per cent.

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