Urea-makers assure maximum output for Kharif season

ISLAMABAD: The fertiliser manufacturers have committed to to maintain maximum urea production for the Kharif season on top of ensuring smooth supplies at the prescribed government rates, agriculture officials said on Wednesday These assurances came to fore during a session of Fertiliser Review Committee (FRC), a special body that monitors the output, stocks, and movement of this key soil nutrient, that met under the chair of Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Industries and Production.

During the meeting, the government side of the FRC assured the industry of addressing their issues pertaining to taxes and outstanding payments and maintenance of uninterrupted gas supply to urea plants to meet the Kharif season demand.

The officials of provincial agriculture departments informed the meeting that manufacturers were gearing up for maximising their production.

The forum also discussed the progress on the upgrade of vehicle tracking and verification systems by the manufacturers and companies as per government directions.

This system was introduced to ensure timely supply of crucial soil nutrients to farmers during the Kharif season.

The review committee also discussed the domestic production, demand, and the pricing for the Kharif season (April 1 to end-September) crops including sugarcane, cotton, rice, maize, etc.

The officials also apprised the committee that urea was being sold at the old price of Rs1,768/bag to provide relief to farmers.

The committee directed provincial governments and agriculture departments to ensure the availability of urea at prescribed prices.

Representatives of the fertiliser manufacturing industry, dealers, and secretaries of provincial agriculture departments attended the meeting via video link.

The government has recently decided to import 200,000 tonnes of urea on a government-to-government (G2G) or deferred payment basis on the suggestion of the committee.

The FRC had informed the higher authorities last month that the national urea inventory would be below buffer stock level from June onwards.

By the end of April 2022, the closing inventory of urea with local producers stood at 309,000 tonnes, compared with 200,000 tonnes in March 2022, whereas the urea offtake is also increasing, and only in April 2022, it jumped 45 percent to 448,000 tonnes against 309,000 tonnes in the same month last year.