Fewer Fertilisers to be Imported in 2005

Vietnam will likely import around 2.2-2.5 million tonnes of fertilisers in 2005, much lower than the import of 3.3 million tonnes last year, due to an increase in local production capacity and forecasted hikes in world fertiliser prices.

From late months of 2004 up to now, local farmers have been worrying over high prices of fertilisers, particularly when the Vietnam Fertiliser Association recently estimated that domestic fertiliser prices would continue to increase in the first half of this year caused by high prices of oil and coal on the global market.

Prices of imported urea fertilisers, mainly from China, in early this year saturated at US$270 per tonne, a rise of US$15 per tonne over prices at the end of last year, said the Vietnam Fertiliser Association, adding that the wholesale price of urea in the local market now stands at US$299 per tonne.  

Despite the high import prices, the newly-operated Phu My Urea Plant in southern Ba Ria Vung Tau province is offering urea fertiliser at the price of VND3,900/kg (around US$240-246/tonne), much lower than imported ones, therefore, the locally-produced product will partly ease Vietnam's dependence on fertiliser imports. Vietnam's urea production capacity currently stands at 900,000 tonnes per annum, meeting nearly 50 per cent of the country's demand for urea fertiliser of the agriculture sector. Of which the Phu My Urea Plant can produce 750,000 per annum, accounting for 38 per cent of the demand. 

Vietnam is estimated to have imported 100,000 tonnes of urea worth US$24 million in January, down 20.1 per cent in volume, but up 2.1 per cent in value against January 2004, according to the country's General Statistics Office.

In addition, the country this year will not have to import nitrogen-phosphate-kalium (NPK) fertiliser as factories in the country can produce over 2 million tonnes of the product this year, meeting the local demand, the association noted.

Vietnam now has over 150 fertiliser producers with an annual capacity of between 500 tonnes to 1 million tonnes each, which are expected to turn out 4.6 million tonnes this year. It will also build four major fertiliser plants with a total annual capacity of nearly 1.8 million tonnes from 2005 to 2010, including an 800,000-tonne urea plant in southern Ca Mau province, a 560,000-tonne urea plant in the northern region, a 330,000-tonne DAP in northern Hai Phong City, and a 100,000-tonne SA plant. 

• The Quan