Fertiliser prices fall, firms to expand exports

Prices of all kinds of fertilisers have gone down by 60% to 65% compared to the beginning of last yea. — Viet Nam News

HANOI: The fertiliser export market has declined in both volume and price in the first six months of this year.

Phung Ha, general secretary and vice-chairman of the Vietnam Fertiliser Association, said that the prices of fertilisers fell sharply in the first six months of the year, especially urea fertilisers due to the price of input materials such as gas and coal for production falling.

In addition, China has no longer restricted the export of 29 types of fertilisers. This move has greatly increased the supply of fertiliser on the world market, putting downward pressure on prices to promote consumption.

Accordingly, the prices of all kinds of fertilisers have gone down by 60% to 65% compared to the beginning of last year and tend to be stable at the current low level.

In addition, the demand for fertiliser also declined as it is not the peak season, which also contributed to pushing prices down.

Many Thai and Chinese firms are coming to Cambodia to invest and buy ingredients for agricultural production, said Ngo Van Dong, general director of Binh Dien Fertiliser Joint Stock Co.

This is a challenge for Vietnamese fertiliser manufacturers in this traditional export market, said Dong.

To cope with these challenges, besides the traditional markets of Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Cambodia and Laos, many domestic fertiliser manufacturers have sought to expand their exports to other markets such as Taiwan (China), Brazil, India, South-East Asian countries and Europe.

Along with the efforts of enterprises to expand the market, the Vietnam Fertiliser Association recently sent an official dispatch to the government office on solutions to support fertiliser firms in boosting exports through favourable tax policies.

Specifically, it proposed the superphosphate export tax rate be 0% as before, instead of 5%. — Viet Nam News/ANN