Bangladesh has enough fertilizer stock said industrial minister

The industries minister said yesterday there is a surplus stock of urea fertiliser for the Irri-Boro season as the government has ensured adequate supply of the important agro-inputs before the season starts this month. "We have the highest stock of urea fertiliser than the previous years', which also exceeds the present demand for this agro-input for the Irri- Boro season. We have tried our best to ensure enough supply of fertiliser before the massive rice-farming activities start," said Dilip Barua. "The local production of fertiliser has increased, while the imports and dealers' stocks are also satisfactory," he added. He was speaking at a meeting with the leaders of Bangladesh Fertiliser Dealers' Association and importers at his ministry. At present, the local demand for urea fertiliser stands at 12.75 lakh tonnes for the January- March period, while the local manufacturers would produce 3.95 lakh tonnes during this period. At the same time, the dealers have a stock of 2 lakh tonnes, shows industries ministry data. "The government has a stock of over 7.21 lakh tonnes now," the minister said. The demand for urea fertiliser would be around 4.44 lakh tonnes in January, of which around 1.35 lakh tonnes would be met from local production, while the government has an allocation of 5.84 lakh tonnes for the month. The government will also import 2.34 lakh tonnes for the season. Barua said the demand for Triple Super Phosphate (TSP) would be 6.7 lakh tonnes, while the demand for Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) is 2.63 lakh tonnes for this year. He said the government would import around 8. 51 lakh tonnes of urea fertiliser from three Middle East countries through international tenders this year. At the same time, around 8 lakh tonnes of urea fertiliser would be procured through government-to-government negotiations and Karnaphuli Fertiliser Company Ltd. The minister stressed the need for proper and transparent distribution of fertiliser at the field level by increasing transport facilities. Kafil Uddin Ahmed, adviser to the association, said the government should ensure better transport facilities and modernise the Mongla seaport, which is essential for proper and timely distribution of imported fertiliser across the country. The association leaders also demanded the government ease the loan repayment conditions to help them continue support for the agriculture sector.