Pakistan to receive 50,000 tonnes of fertilizer from China on February 10

Gwadar Pro

Islamabad: Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry has said that 50,000 tonnes of fertilizer from China would arrive on February 10.

In a tweet, he mentioned that the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet had approved the import of 1.5 Million Tonnes (MT) of fertilizer from China.

The Ministry of Industries and Production had earlier tabled a summary for the import of urea from China by Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP).

The ECC after deliberation allowed import of 50,000 MT of urea from China on immediate basis subject to clearance from the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA). The TCP was also tasked to negotiate the price with Chinese supplier authorized by the government of China for further import of urea.

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry stated on twitter that the ECC had approved the import of 1.5 MT of fertilizer from China.

“The first ship of 50,000 tonnes of fertilizer would arrive on February 10. (Around) 600,000 tonnes of local fertilizer would also start coming in the market during the current month,” he tweeted.

He assured that despite the high prices in the world market, Pakistan’s farmers will not face its shortage.

On December 24, Federal Minister for Industries and Production Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar while chairing a fertiliser review meeting had asked the fertiliser industry to increase urea supplies by 30 percent countrywide to ease down the market, besides directing the Petroleum Division to assure gas supply to urea plants according to revised supply priority orders.

The minister, while stating that up to 20,000 MT production of urea on a daily basis was reported on an average, had advised farmers to not engage in panic buying and register complaints of overcharging and hoarding in their locality.

On December 31, the Senate Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research had noted that the gas supply disruption to fertiliser plants during the June-September period had caused a shortage of 200,000 tonnes of urea.

The parliamentary committee had observed that supplies had been affected as urea plants were non-operational between June 28 and September 16 despite ECC orders to keep plants operational from March to November, lamenting that the situation would result in hoarding, an artificial shortage and price hikes.