The government expects “comfortable stocks of fertilisers” during the kharif season, or the summer planting season, as alternative sea routes like the Red Sea and Cape of Good Hope around the southern tip of Africa are used for incoming supplies, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnao said on Saturday while briefing reporters.
Anticipating geopolitical risks in West Asia, the government launched a global tender for urea, the most widely used crop nutrient, and ordered 1.3 million tons in mid-February, seeking to allay concerns about shortages caused by the West Asia crisis, the minister said. The government expects nearly 90% of the quantity to arrive by the end of March.
Shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, an important waterway between Iran and Oman, have almost stopped after the United States and Israel attacked the Islamic Republic, disrupting global supplies of crude oil, gas and fertilizer. India depends on the Strait for more than half of its energy imports.
The country’s current fertilizer reserve is about 18 million tons, which is 36% higher than the levels recorded in March of last year.
Although the country is not facing an immediate fertilizer shortage, current stocks are not enough to fully meet demand for the upcoming summer crop season.
As for urea demand throughout the season, “we have time to increase production and cover” the deficit, Vaishnau said. Local production currently amounts to about 2.5 million tons per month, according to the minister. India is the largest importer of urea in the world.
The country currently possesses 6.2 million tons of urea, about one million tons more than last year. However, this represents only about a third of the total urea consumption of 18.2 million tons recorded during last year’s summer season (June 1 to September 15), according to official figures.
The minister said gas companies have advanced schedules for station maintenance to help meet demand, while Saudi DAP imports under a five-year contract worth 3 million tons are continuing without interruption.
Vaishnau added that fertilizer supplies from Russia, including urea, DAP and NPK, as well as imports from Morocco, continue uninterrupted through the Cape of Good Hope. Morocco, which has one of the largest phosphate reserves in the world, is a major supplier to India.
“More farmers are shifting to rice and maize cultivation due to growing demand for biofuels,” said Rahul Chauhan of iGrain Ltd. “Coupled with a good monsoon, this has led to a significant increase in overall fertilizer demand in India, necessitating increased imports over the last two years.”
