August 16, 2024 (MLN): Fertilizer sales, including urea and DAP, rose 4% YoY to 775,000 tonnes during July 2024, according to the latest monthly report on fertilizer offtake issued by the National Fertilizer Development Company (NDFC).
Urea offtake fell 2.8% to 612,000 tonnes as against 629,000 tonnes in July 2023.
While DAP sales jumped 44.8% to 163,000 tonnes compared to a sale of 113,000 tonnes in the same month of last year.
Cumulative urea offtake from April to June was 1.822 million tonnes against projected demand of 2.389 mtonnes i.e. 23.7 % less.
Decline in offtake may be attributed to late sowing of Kharif crops as a result of climate change, economic recession caused by low wheat prices and significant reduction in cotton acreage in Punjab (20%) and Sindh (12%), the report noted.
Total availability of urea is estimated at 3.374m tonnes with domestic production of 3.2m tonnes and 174,000 tonnes of carryover stock.
Urea offtake estimates for Kharif 2024 are 2.962m tonnes with closing balance around 393,000 tonnes.
Expected availability of DAP during Kharif 2024 is around 1.049m tonnes, comprising 78,000 tonnes opening stock, 533,000 tonnes imported supplies and 438,000 tonnes domestic production.
DAP demand is estimated around 777,000 tonnes. Confirmed imports during August and September 2024 are 193 and 190,000 tonnes, respectively which will keep the DAP supplies smooth in the market.
Supply/Demand Situation
Total urea availability during July 2024 was 1.014m tonnes, which comprised 431,000 tonnes of previous month leftover and 583,000 tonnes domestic production.
Urea offtake during July 2024 was 612,000 tonnes, leaving a closing balance of 399,000 tonnes
Total availability of DAP during July 2024 was 266,000 tonnes, which included 166,000 tonnes stock of previous month, 23,000 tonnes of imported supplies and 76,000 tonnes domestic production.
Its offtake was 163,000 tonnes leaving closing balance of 103,000 tonnes.
Domestic prices
Price of urea (sona) and urea (other) increased slightly by 0.5 and 0.2%, respectively while price of CAN decreased by 0.3% over June 2024.
Prices of phosphate fertilizer products i.e., DAP and SSP increased by 3.8 and 1.4%.
Price of SOP remained unchanged whereas price of NP decreased by 1.5%.
The average price of urea (sona), urea (other) and DAP was Rs4,768, Rs4,641 and Rs11,352 per 50 kg bag, respectively
International prices
Price of urea in China market decreased by $20 per tonne while it was remained less or more same in Arabian Gulf during July 2024 compared with previous month.
Urea prices were quoted as $302-331 and $332-355 per tonne FOB bulk for China and Arabian Gulf, respectively.
Rising trend in DAP prices was observed during July 2024 with increase of $40-80 per tonne.
DAP prices were in the range of $513-656 per tonne FOB bulk in Australia and $550-590 per tonne FOB in China.
MAP and TSP bulk prices were $575-609 and $470-530 per tonne FOB, respectively.
Ex-Karachi price of imported urea ranged between Rs5,711 and 6,542 per 50 kg bag, while price of imported DAP (China) was in the range of Rs10,253 to 10,908 per 50 kg bag
Nutrient Offtake
Total nutrient offtake during July 2024 was 449,000 tonnes, which increased by 9.2% over July 2023.
Nitrogen and phosphate offtake increased by 1.8 and 49.4%, respectively while potash offtake decreased by 18.8%.
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Posted on: 2024-08-16T11:51:02+05:00
