Fertilizers off-take

Fertilizers off-take, (both urea
and DAP), decreased during
Jul-Nov FY097 amid weak
demand due to higher prices
and vague market signals.
Urea off-take decreased by
16.1 percent YoY during this
period. DAP fertilizer offtake
declined by 11.7 percent
during Jul-Nov FY09 on top
of 12.6 percent fall seen in
the same period last year (see
Figure 2.4 ). Lower off-take
probably reflects cautious
purchases by the farmers in
anticipation of a reduction in
price following the collapse of international DAP prices. However, impact of an
ease in international prices is yet to be seen in the domestic market.
It is estimated that fertilizer
supply will be lower than its
demand entirely due to
shortages in the availability
of urea, while availability of
DAP estimated at 985
thousand tons (comprising
655 thousand tons of opening
inventory and 330 thousand
tons of local production)
against an estimated demand
of 885 thousand tons,
showing a comfortable
supply and will leave 135
thousand tons for kharif
FY10 consumption.