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Post by
aaa-ftwon Jul 14, 2011 8:18pm
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Post# 18833438
India and Potash
India and Potash
The Department of Fertilisers (DoF) has raised concerns before the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) over the inability of Indian companies to import potash due to an increase in the prices of the commodity by an international cartel, even as the industry is expected to reach a consensus by the end of this week.
India had been a net importer of potash for several years now and has been buying it at a price on par with China on the basis of landed cost. While China had been able to source it at $400 a tonne this financial year, the international potash cartel led by Canada-based Canpotex has urged India to buy it at $500 a tonne.
The Indian fertiliser industry had been on a “holiday” since April and has stopped importing potash. The government subsidy had been fixed at $400 a tonne, hence technically, a higher cost would translate into raising the farmgate prices or the price at which it would be sold to the farmers. In the current financial year, India had not been able to contract a single tonne of imported potash.
In 2008-09, when commodity prices had hit through the roof, India had paid $625 a tonne for potash. Last year, the price was $370 per tonne. India imports its entire potash need of six million tonnes (mt), and accounts for 60 per cent of the world imports. India sources potash from Canada, Russia, Israel and Jordan.