Market and product

LAHORE: Shortage of Di-Ammonium Phosphate is expected at around 500,000 tons in the upcoming sowing season for rice, cotton and other summer crops, said an official of the National Fertiliser Development Corporation on Thursday. After the deregulation of DAP trade, private sector is solely responsible for its import, the official said adding that government is monitoring the situation and it is expected that availability of DAP would be streamlined in Kharif - the summer crops season.

He expressed the hope that DAP price would not increase further keeping in view trend in international market.

“Around 100,000 tons of DAP is available on the onset of Kharif season,” the NFDC official said. DAP sale in Rabi 2009-2010 was 26 per cent more than the previous Rabi season. Rabi is Arabic for spring and denotes crops sown from October to December and harvested from April to July. Rabi crops include wheat, barley, gram, mustard etc.

DAP price hovers around Rs1800-1900 per bag during last Rabi season, which is a fairly good price. This price trend, he maintained, evoked a 26 per cent rise in its use. Its price in Pakistan is totally dependent on trend in international market. Nowadays, price of DAP is again climbing and has reached to Rs2,800 for a 50 Kg bag. However, it is expected that this price will consolidate at this level.

The official said that the price gap between urea and DAP should be narrowed to ensure efficient and balanced use of chemical fertilizer in the country.

(Source: http://www.thenews.com.pk/)