Fertiliser imports won’t encounter grain of trouble

NEW DELHI: With wheat prices in the global market shooting up to over $220 per tonne and putting a spoke in its import plans for five million tonne, the government has turned its focus to rice and the kharif crop. The fertiliser secretary recently put in place urgent measures to ensure that fertiliser imports do not get stuck, as happened last year, in ports such as Mundra and Kandla where it would have to compete for rakes with food grain imports.

The first step to ensure that the clash with food grain does not happen at ports, as it did last year, was taken on Tuesday by the STC. It issued an import tender for one million tonne of high priced wheat, scheduled to be delivered between August and November, well after the crucial July agricultural sowing season when fertiliser demand is at its optimum.

Significantly, the DoF is aiming to get all imports of fertilisers, to be used for Kharif 2007, within July. “This will avoid any potential clash with food grains, which are likely to arrive after August 2007,” ministry sources stressed. Last year, imported food grains were stuck for an inordinate time at various ports and entailed high costs for the STC in terms of demurrage costs.

The government’s keenness to ensure that DAP and urea in particular flow smoothly from the portsto regional storage centres in the first part of the monsoon season, when most Kharif crops are sowed, is also in view of the short supply in both these fertilisers. “Keeping in view the tight stock position, DAP will be given preference in loading and dispatches,” the fertiliser secretary has directed. However, urea supply position is understood to be relativelybetter.

Compared to a total kharif consumption of 126.83 lakh tonnes (lt) projected for kharif 2007, domestic production has been estimated at 98.59 lt, entailing imports of some 28.24 lt. Significantly, fertiliser imports into the country have gone up from nil in 2000-01 to 47.19 lt for urea and from 8.61 lt to 28.75 lt for DAP.

At a meeting held here on June 15 to review the evacuation facilities of fertilisers from ports, senior fertiliser ministry honchos interacted with top railway, shipping ministry, port and public sector fertiliser company officials. With the bulk of fertiliser imports set to come into Mundra, Kandla and Vizag ports mainly, importing companies, handling agents and railways were directed to gear up resources for speedy clearing of fertilisers from the ports.

Imports into ports by the first week of June are supposed to be lifted by June 21 “positively” with active rake assistance from the Railways. Similarly, stocks arriving by 20 June, were given a deadline of end June-July first week for clearance from ports. In view of the deadline, handling agents were asked to ensure that indents for rakes were placed without delay.

In addition, fertiliser ministry officials also warned port authorities that unless all logistics were in place and working at the optimum, the entire exercise could get thwarted. Mundra port representatives were told to increase their bagging rate to an optimum 7,500 tonne per day as compared to lesser than 4,000 tonne per day currently, primarily in view of the large scale import arrivals at Mundra. “There’s an immediate need to ramp up the bagging rate otherwise evacuation won’t be able to keep up with arrivals at the port.”At the core of the exercise is the Railways’ ability to speedily provide enough rakes on priority for the clearance of imported fertilisers.