Urea supplies to meet fall demand

HCM CITY — With domestic production of urea fertiliser increasing, there is enough supply for the autumn-winter rice crop, a top fertiliser industry executive said.

Cao Hoai Duong, general director of the PetroVietnam Fertiliser and Chemical Corporation (PVFCCo), said with his company's Ca Mau urea plant going on stream recently, supply would be adequate to ensure there is no repeat of the price "fevers" of the past.

"PVFCCo, which accounts for 60 per cent of the country's urea supply and is tasked with ensuring stability in the fertiliser market, is also trying to cut production costs," he said.

In the first seven months of the year urea production was around 896,500 tonnes, 61.5 per cent higher than in the same period last year, according to the Viet Nam Fertiliser Association.

With harvest of the summer-autumn rice crop in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, the country's rice granary, almost complete, fertiliser prices have fallen in the past one month.

Urea prices are down by 10 per cent, according to retailers, and NPK and DAP fertiliser prices have fallen by 5-7 per cent.

Planting of the autumn-winter crop has begun in the delta, and around 600,000ha will be planted in all.

But since fertiliser supply is expected to be adequate, prices are not expected to rise much.

Total demand in the country for all kinds of fertilisers is estimated at around 9.8 million tonnes, including two millions of urea, according to the Viet Nam Fertiliser Association.

"The country produces around 7.25 million tonnes and imports SA, potassium, and DAP," it said. — VNS