May 30, 2012
Pakistan''s April urea sales down 37%
The official figures released by the National Fertiliser Development Centre stated that the total urea off-take in Pakistan has significantly dropped by 37% to 308,000 tonnes in the month of April 2012, says a Topline Securities research note.
Breakup of urea sales- the most widely used fertiliser- shows that local manufacturers sold only 151,000 tonnes, while sales of imported urea stood at 157,000 tonnes compared to 404,000 tonnes and 82,000 tonnes last year.
Company-wise data shows that urea sales of Engro, Fauji Fertiliser Company, Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim and Fatima Fertiliser stood at 30,000 tonnes, 75,000 tonnes, 19,000 tonnes and 1,000 tonnes respectively. Sales of locally produced branded urea during January-April 2012 were recorded at 644,000 tonnes, down 57% compared to last year.
The lower off-take could be due to a reduced demand amid delays in Kharif sowing due to unavailability of seeds; and also due to lower smuggling to border countries (especially Afghanistan) due to sharp increases in local fertiliser prices amid gas curtailment, cess and sales tax, which have reduced the price benefit of smuggling, says the note.
The decline in local branded urea sales is also strongly attributable to the availability of imported urea in the market at subsidised rates. The government''s reliance on imports has eased demand of the commodity for now: however, the move will hit the country''s fiscal management efforts, as the fertiliser import bill reached US$848 million during the first seven months of the current financial year, against a total of US$300 million during the same period last year.
On the DAP front, total sales in April stood 10% higher than last year at 60,000 tonnes, while cumulative sales during January-April 2012 stood at 147,000 tonnes, down 32% on-year.