January 24, 2002
'42'
FERTILIZER PRODUCTION FOR DECEMBER 2001
The estimated production of fertilizers during December, 2001 was 9.91 lakh MTs of nitrogen and that of phosphate was 3.59 lakh MTs. The overall capacity utilization in December, 2001 was 98.9% for Nitrogen and 84.4% for Phosphate. The cumulative production of fertilizers during April-December, 2001 is estimated as 81.65 lakh MTs of nitrogen and 28.78 lakh MTs of phosphate.
Urea
During December, 2001, 18.48 lakh MTs urea was dispatched to the States against the target of 18 lakh MTs. Cumulative availability of urea during the current Rabi by the end of December, 2001 had been 71.60 lakh MTs including opening stock of 19.85 lakh MTs. This was 65% of the allocation of 110.93 lakh MTs under Essential Commodities Act (ECA) for the season. The availability of urea had been satisfactory in all the States so far during the Rabi 2001-02 season and no State has reported shortage of urea. The Sales of urea upto 31.12.2001 was 52.57 lakh MTs which had been higher by about 9% as compared with the sales of 48.15 lakh MTs in the corresponding period of the previous year.
DAP
Cumulative availability of DAP during the current Rabi by the end of December, 2001 had been 25.64 lakh MTs as compared to the availability of 28.28 lakh MTs during the corresponding period of the previous year. The sales of DAP upto 31.12.2001 was 20.55 lakh MTs which had been higher by about 4% as compared with the sales of 19.73 lakh MTs in the corresponding period of the previous year.
MOP
Cumulative availability of MOP during the current Rabi by the end of December, 2001 had been 11.12 lakh Mts compared to the availability of 10.16 lakh MTs during the corresponding period of previous year. During Rabi 2001 (upto 31.12.2001) total sales, including sales for complex manufacturers had been 7.82 lakh MTs which had been higher by about 8% as compared to the sales of 7.22 lakh MTs during the corresponding period of previous year.
The availability of DAP and MOP had been satisfactory in December, 2001 in all the States.
Imports
There were no imports of urea and DAP during December, 2001. In addition, during the month under review, 2.38 lakh Mts of MOP have been imported. The cumulative arrivals for the current year of Urea, DAP and MOP in the country had been 2.20 lakh MTs, 9.02 lakh Mts and 23.56 lakh Mts, respectively.
Loading by Railways
The average daily loading of fertilizers by rail during December, 2001 was 3325 equivalent BG wagons per day as against 3320 BG wagons per day in the corresponding period of last year.