Food Ministry Requests Govt to Ensure Gas Supply to FFBL in Rabi Season

The Ministry of National Food Security and Research has asked the government to ensure the provision of gas to the Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim Limited (FFBL) plant and LNG-based plants during the entire rabi season of 2021-22 as its short supply has caused the offtake of urea and DAP to decline by 7.7 percent and 14.3 percent respectively during the season.

Pakistan has a scarce supply of urea which resulted in a 7.7 percent decrease in its offtake during the first three months of the current rabi season as per the official documents available with this scribe.

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Regarding the fertilizer production and offtake, the documents reveal that production of urea decreased by five percent during the first half (July to December) of the current fiscal year 2021-22 as compared to the same time frame of last year. However, the production of urea increased by 1.1 percent during the current rabi season (October to December) when compared with the same time period of the last rabi season, mainly due to the operations of two LNG-based plants.

There has been an increase in the use of other phosphate sources such as nitrophos and SSP which will compensate for the decreased use of DAP to some extent. The offtake of nitrophos has increased by 26 percent during the current rabi season (October to December), while that of SSP has increased by 105 percent as opposed to the previous rabi season (2020-21). Also, the phosphate offtake has reportedly decreased by seven percent during the current season.

As for the prices of urea and DAP, the documents show that the retail price has reached Rs. 3,500 per bag against the company rate of Rs. 1,768 per bag, while the company price of DAP is Rs. 9,200 to Rs. 9,600 and the retail price is Rs. 9,800 per bag.

The total availability of urea during the rabi season 2021-22 is estimated to be 3,335,000 tons as compared to its offtake at the level of 3,195,000 tons. The documents also contain details that the closing inventory of urea reflects a shortage. The government should ensure the provision of gas to the Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim Limited (FFBL) plant and LNG-based plants may remain operational during the entire rabi season 2021-22.

The available quantity of DAP in the ongoing season will be 1120000 tons, as compared to its offtake of 927,000 tons. Other phosphate products like nitrophos (NP), MAP, SSP, and NPK will also be available in the market to meet the phosphate requirements, as mentioned in the documents.



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