2023-06-28 02:30:00
Urea sales have dropped three per cent to 3.12 million tonnes (mt) during April-May against 3.23 mt year-ago even as there was 16 per cent increase in domestic production and 37 per cent rise in import.
However, as the monsoon has already covered nearly all the states except a few districts in Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab, the demand for the fertiliser in July may surge substantially with an expected rise in sowing areas.
Fertiliser companies were able to sell 64 per cent of the total demand of 4.86 mt in the first two months, official sources said.
Also Read: Surging up. Urea production jumps by 25.6% during April
“There was no fear of El Nino, neither monsoon was delayed last year. So, farmers had purchased a lot of urea during May before commencement of kharif sowing from June. The situation this year is uncertain as despite a fortnight of loss in monsoon progress, it is likely to cover the entire country before its normal schedule of July 8,” said an official source.
The urea sales may shoot up in June-August, the main sowing period as farmers seemed to have not stocked the fertiliser before sowing season. In May 2022, urea sales increased by a quarter as farmers rushed to buy and stock all key fertilisers amid reports of scarcity at many places, mainly in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
According to official data, the sales of urea were 1.18 mt in April and 1.94 mt in May this year. The subsidy on urea during first two months was ₹16,133 crore – ₹6,867.38 crore in April and ₹9,265.98 crore in May.
Also Read: Pricing anomaly. Fertiliser sales up 2% in Apr-Feb FY23 on higher urea, DAP offtake
For the current kharif season, the government has pegged the urea demand at 17.07 mt during April-September while the requirement in June has been estimated at 3.06 mt.
The demand for nano-urea in this kharif season has been estimated at 1.78 crore bottles (of 500 ml each), which is equivalent to 0.4 mt of conventional granular urea.
Monsoon rainfall during June 1-27 was 115.0 mm, against 141.8 mm considered normal for the period, showing a deficit of 19 per cent. Though 18 states have reported deficient rainfall this season, many of them have received good amount of precipitation in absolute term that is enough to commence sowing of crops.
For instance, with 66 mm rainfall Maharashtra is ‘large deficient’, but with 62-63 mm rainfall Punjab and Haryana have ‘excess’ precipitation.
Also Read: Urea subsidy may be below ₹1-lakh cr in FY24 against BE of ₹1.31-lakh cr
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Published on June 28, 2023
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