The Hindu Business Line : DAP fertiliser shortage looms over South

Chennai, July 20 With kharif season on, farmers and industry in the South are worried about the supply of fertilisers, particularly di ammonium phosphate (DAP), as two major factories of SPIC in Tamil Nadu and Mangalore Chemicals in Karnataka are shut. While urea and potash supplies can be managed through imports, there is a major concern on DAPin Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, according to industry sources.

As the season picks up, fertiliser demand hits a peak from second week of July and continues into August and September. The shortage of DAP is going to be felt the most from now on unless immediate arrangements are made for imports. Imports, despite the rise in the rupee, are likely to be expensive, as phosphoric acid prices have risen to $460 a tonne against $ 380 last year. All these have contributed to the shortfall, sources said.

Yet, imports are now the only option, they say. The Tamil Nadu Government, with the consent of the Fertiliser Ministry, hopes to make up for the DAP shortfall through imports. The MMTC and India Potash Ltd are the authorised agencies to import DAP, which will be marketed within Tamil Nadu through the Tamil Nadu Cooperative Marketing Federation (TANFED). But whether the importing agencies will be able to tie up stocks and bring them in on time is doubtful, they say.

Industry estimates put the deficit in Tamil Nadu at more than 24,000 tonnes. The demand in August and September is about 62,000 tonnes against availability of just about 37,000 tonnes. According to industry sources, SPIC was to have supplied over 1.85 lakh tonnes of urea and about 45,000 tonnes of DAP. Following the closure of the plant, it is doubtful whether can be reopened during the season, say sources.

Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers’ plant is shut due to ‘major repairs,’ according to sources. There is a shortfall in supply of urea and DAP from this unit. It has supplied over 12,000 tonnes of urea against the planned 20,000 tonnes and DAP 5,000 tonnes against the planned 11,000 tonnes. According to industry sources, the DAP shortage in Karnataka is estimated at about 90,000 tonnes and in Andhra Pradesh about 16,000 tonnes.

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