April 23, 2021 (MLN): The overall urea offtake during the month of March 2021 was 343 thousand tonnes, depicting a rise of 13.4 percent as compared to the same period of last year.
According to the monthly report issued by National Fertilizer Development Centre (NFDC), the total urea availability during March was about 642 thousand tonnes, which comprised 128 thousand tonnes of the previous month leftover and 514 thousand tonnes domestic production. Urea offtake during March 2021 was 343 thousand tonnes, leaving a closing balance of 298 thousand tonnes.
Moreover, Urea offtake increased in Punjab, KP and Balochistan by 15, 40 and 65 percent, respectively during March 2021 when compared to March 2020. Its offtake decreased by 17 percent in Sindh as compared to March 2020.
During Rabi 2020-21 (Oct-March), the cumulative urea offtake was 3,225 thousand tonnes, showing an increase of 12.3 percent over the same time frame of the previous season.
OUTLOOK FOR KHARIF 2021
Kharif 2021 started with an opening inventory of 298 thousand tonnes of urea. Total available urea would be around 3,531 thousand tonnes comprising of 3,232 thousand tonnes of domestic production. The offtake during Kharif 2021 is expected to be around 3,033 thousand tonnes. The closing balance for Kharif 2021 will be 498 thousand tonnes.
