Urea imports down by 7.25% in April-October

The country's urea imports fell by 7.25 per cent to 3.71 million tonne (MT) during the April- October period of the current fiscal, as per the industry data.

The world's second largest urea consumer had, in contrast, imported 4 MT of the commodity in the first seven months of the last financial year. About 5-7 MT of urea is imported annually as domestic output is lower than the demand of 32 MT.

The nitrogen fertiliser is imported through canalising agencies. According to the Fertiliser Association of India (FAI), domestic urea output would be around 24 MT in the current fiscal as against 24.2 MT in last year.

During April-October this fiscal, domestic urea output was 13.53 MT, as against 14.04 MT in the year-ago period. Urea is the highly subsidised fertiliser and is sold at Rs 5,360 per tonne, while the cost of production is around Rs 16,000 per tonne.