(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) India, one of the largest consumers of fertiliser in the world, imported 1.67mn tonnes of urea from Oman during the eight-month period from April to November this year, up 36 per cent from 1.23mn tonnes of imports in the same period of 2012.
According to data from India's fertiliser ministry, Oman was the second biggest supplier of urea to India with the sultanate accounting for over 29 per cent of India's total urea imports during the eight-month period. China was the largest urea supplier to India with exports of 2.52mn tonnes.
India imported a total of 5.75mn tonnes of urea valued at US$1.64bn during the April-November period to meet domestic demand as the cost of inward shipments eased, according to Indian media reports. The country imported 5.41mn tonnes of urea in the same period a year earlier.
Most of the imports from Oman were through India's long-term off-take agreement with Oman India Fertiliser Co (Omifco), a joint venture between Oman Oil Co, India's Iffco and Kribhco.
The Indian government imported 1.46mn tonnes of urea from Omifco during the eight-month period this year against 1.17mn tonnes imported during the corresponding period last year.
Indian state trading enterprises, Indian Potash Ltd, Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation (MMTC) and State Trading Corporation of India, procured the remaining 4.29mn tonnes of urea on behalf of the government.
''There was a decline of an average US$50 per tonne in the prices at which urea was imported this year,'' Indian Potash Ltd chairman P S Gahlaut was quoted as saying to the media.
According to statistics, the weighted average price of India's urea imports from Omifco in the April-October period this year was US$184.91 per tonne compared with US$188 per tonne in the financial year 2012-13. On the other hand, the weighted average cost of urea imports through India's state trading enterprises was US$323.31 per tonne, much below US$417.4 per tonne in the financial year 2012-13.
Omifco produces about 2mn tonnes of urea a year at its plant in the Sur Industrial Estate for export to India.
India produces about 22mn tonnes of urea against an annual domestic demand of 30mn tonnes. Urea imports are expected to rise in this financial year as farmers increased sowing due to the good monsoon, an Indian fertiliser ministry official was quoted as saying.
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