New Delhi: To guarantee a reliable supply of soil nutrients, four fertilizer companies - National Fertilizers Limited and Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd (state-run) and Chambal Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd and Paradeep Phosphates Ltd (from the private sector) – have agreed to an annual import of 1.75 million tonnes of phosphorus (P) and potassium (K)-based fertilizers by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Morocco’s OCP Group.
“This will immensely benefit the farming community in India and contribute towards ensuring food security,” On Saturday at Rabat, Morocco, Fertilizer Minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced the signing of an MoU via a tweet.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed to import one million tonnes of Diammonium Phosphate (DAP), 0.7 million tonnes of Triple Superphosphate (TSP) and 0.05 million tonnes of Muriate of Potash (MOP), with the goal of meeting the nation's demand for various soil nutrients in the upcoming year.
“Our customized solution TSP significantly contributes to increasing yields, improving farmers’ incomes and accelerating the implementation of sustainable agricultural practices,” according to a statement from Soufiyane El Kassi, Chairman and CEO of OCP Nutricrops -- an offshoot of the OCP group specialized in soil health and plant fertilization solutions.
India is in discussions with several countries - Senegal, Jordan, Israel, Oman, Russia, Canada, and Saudi Arabia - to ensure secured supplies of non-urea fertilizers such as DAP and NPK. From these countries, the country imports about half of its DAP needs. Additionally, 25% of its urea and 15% of its NPK fertilizer requirements are met through imports. To meet domestic MoP demands, India solely relies on imports from Belarus, Canada, and Jordan among others.
“We are increasing domestic production and making long term arrangements for imports with exporter countries. It will give us an opportunity to get fertilizer at our price,” he noted that the import price of DAP had significantly reduced from $1000/tonne in April 2022 to approximately $743/tonne presently.
Recently, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers, Mansukh L. Mandaviya expressed that India will be a price setter in the global fertilizer market within the next two years. In October 2022, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd (RCF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with K Plus S Middle East FZE DMCC, a subsidiary of Germany’s K+S Minerals and Agriculture GmBH, to supply 0.1 metric tonnes (MT) of MOP annually until 2025 at a discounted rate specific to India.
In September 2022, Coromandel International, Chambal Fertilizers and Indian Potash Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Canpotex, Canada for potash imports. Last August, India and Saudi Arabia had agreed to an annual supply of 2.5 MT of ammonia, DAP and NPK fertilizers until 2025. At the G20 Summit in Bali last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi commented that "today's fertilizer shortage will become tomorrow's food crisis."
