Urea imports from Iran zoom 9-fold to 5.72 lakh tonnes in Q1

NEW DELHI: India's urea imports from Iran jumped more than nine-fold to 5.72 lakh tonnes (LT) in the first quarter of 2015-16 in anticipation of a diplomatic deal on the country's disputed nuclear programme.

India had imported a mere 0.61 lakh tonnes of the fertiliser from Iran in the year-ago period.

Iran and six major world powers today reached an agreement, bringing to an end more than a decade of tumultuous negotiations.

The pricing played its part too. India shipped in urea from Iran through two different tenders this year. In May, 3.37 LT of urea was imported at $267 per tonne while in June, the imports stood at 2.35 LT for $299 per tonne.

Both tenders were less than the last average price of $304 per tonne, a source said.

The total inward shipments from Iran in 2014-15 came in at 6.52 LT, less than 10 per cent of the total urea imports of 87.49 LT in the same year.

India's annual urea demand is about 300 LT while the domestic production has stayed stagnant at 220 LT. The rest is met through imports.

With the landmark nuclear agreement, the import of urea from the West Asian nation this year may touch 10 lakh tonnes, a source said.

Urea is a controlled commodity in India as it's imported by the government itself. The soil nutrient's maximum retail price is fixed at Rs 5,360 per tonne, and the difference between the cost of production and the retail price is paid as subsidy to manufacturers.