Balancing the interests of people and businesses

In the first 10 months of the year, DAP fertilizer inventory was 71 thousand tons, urea inventory was over 210 thousand tons, making the domestic fertilizer market gloomy. Many opinions say that we need to rebalance fertilizer imports so that both people and businesses benefit.

Imports increase, inventories high

Statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs show that in the first 9 months of the year, Vietnam imported 1.7 million tons of various fertilizers, worth 587.8 million USD, up 15.26% in volume but down 1.52% in value. Of which, imports from China accounted for 50.7%. In September 2013 alone, Vietnam imported 329 thousand tons of various fertilizers from the Chinese market, worth 96.4 million USD. The types of fertilizers imported from China in September were: DAP, SA, urea, of which the largest amount of DAP was imported, about 3 thousand tons.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, fertilizer consumption is currently slow and inventories are high. As of now, fertilizer inventories have increased by 16.1% compared to the same period last year, due to the impact of floods in the month and the recent drop in agricultural prices. Abundant supply is one of the reasons for the decrease in fertilizer prices in the past two months. Currently, the price of Phu My urea is around 7,800 - 7,850 VND/kg, and the price of Ca Mau urea is around 7,600 - 8,200 VND/kg. With such fluctuating prices, the domestic price of nitrogen fertilizer has dropped to its lowest level since the beginning of the year.

Rebalancing fertilizer policy

Mr. Vo Van Quyen - Director of the Domestic Market Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade - raised the issue: Currently, imported fertilizers have increased by 20% in the past 9 months, of which more than 50% are imported from China, not only urea but also other types. The issue that needs to be raised is that for types of fertilizers that are not yet produced domestically (such as Potassium, SA), we can import them, but there are types of fertilizers that are produced domestically such as urea, DAP but still imported, so we need to reconsider. Mr. Quyen also suggested that those who work in policy management need to balance and coordinate circulation policies and seasonal policies according to the time, so as to ensure the interests of both farmers and manufacturers.

In a recent report by the Department of Border and Mountainous Trade, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that according to the forecast of supply-demand balance, in 2013, domestic fertilizer industrial production will only meet 77.6%, still having to import 2.47 million tons of fertilizers of all kinds. Some types of fertilizers such as: Urea, NPK, phosphate fertilizer produced domestically will meet the demand. DAP fertilizer has met 30% but potassium and SA fertilizers still have to be imported 100%. Therefore, for types of fertilizers that have been produced domestically and meet the domestic market demand, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will limit or temporarily stop cross-border imports through secondary border gates and border openings at each time. For fertilizers that have not been produced domestically or have been produced but still cannot meet domestic consumption, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will continue to allow imports in batches, with a specified time to control the quantity of fertilizers imported through border trade so as not to affect domestic supply and demand.

According to baocongthuong