December 26, 2018 (MLN): Urea offtake during October, 2018 was 497 thousand tonnes which recorded a decrease of 17.4 per cent over November, 2017, when the offtake was 602 thousand tonnes, says an official data released by National Fertilizer Development Centre (NFDC).
Based on month-on-month comparison, the total Urea off-takes increased by 6.8%.
Most of the urea sales during the month, were made in the province of Punjab (358 thousand tonnes, down by 9%, YoY) whereas Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had the lowest demand (only 12 thousand tonnes, down by 51%, YoY).
Urea demand in Baluchistan went down by 26% over November 2017, while that in Sindh dropped by 31%.
With respect to inventory levels, urea inventories dropped by 51% YoY to 245 thousand tonnes during Nov-18, against 505 thousand tonnes during the same period last year.
On a monthly basis, inventories grew by 16% MoM, primarily due to resumption of production from Agritech and FatimaFert plant which had remained closed due to unavailability of gas. Additionally, ECC’s approval to import 100 thousand tonnes of urea in the month of September 2018 to ensure sufficient supply of the commodity in Rabi season also contributed largely to the improved inventory levels.
Based on company wise performance, Fauji Fertilizer Company (FFC) continued to outperform in terms of urea off-takes, earning a market share of 41% at 206 thousand tonnes as well as marking a decline of 24% YoY during Nov-18.
This was followed by Engro Fertilizers (EFERT) as it earned a share of 28% at 139 thousand tonnes, down 28% YoY and Fatima Fertilizers (FATIMA) at 76 thousand tonnes, up 90% YoY.
