Vietnam Halts Fertilizer Exports Due to Domestic Shortage

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has decided to halt licensing exports of urea and DAP fertilizer from now until July to ensure domestic sufficiency for the on-going summer-autumn crop, the Saigon Liberation reported.

 

It has followed a proposal by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on stopping fertilizer outbound shipments to channel local sources into the spring-summer crop.

 

In the same move, PetroVietnam Fertilizer and Chemical Company (PVFCCo) has also called on the government to raise tax on fertilizer exports.

 

Vietnam is estimated to demand around 950,000 tons of fertilizer for the second half of this year. However, Ha Bac and PVFCCo's Phu My fertilizer factories, two of the country's biggest fertilizer producers, will be able to supply 660,000 tons only. The remainder will come from imports.

 

According to the PVFCCo, Vietnam’s total consumption of fertilizer is around 1.7 million tons per annum.

 

Vietnam imported 1.63 million tons of fertilizers valued at more than US$666 million in the first four months of 2008, posting on-year increases of 45.2 per cent and 165 per cent, respectively, according to the National General Statistics Office.

 

Last year the country imported nearly 3.8 million tons of fertilizers worth USUS$996 million, mainly from China, Indonesia, Russia, and the Middle East. (Saigon Liberation, Vinanet)