All Posts from November 29, 2010

Market Watch

AMMONIA

U.S. Gulf: As Green Markets went to press just before the Thanksgiving Holiday there was still no word on new business for Tampa for December. Predictions have been for a rollover to a drop as much as $40/mt DEL.

In the meantime, no new spot barge transactions have been reported from NOLA for months. It has been the traditional policy to only change that range when a new transaction is reported. However, some say it is time to change the way this extremely thinly-traded market is reported, meaning that the category should be eliminated or simply reported as NA or not available until a new transaction is reported. As some continue to have contracts for this price point, industry commentary is appreciated on this topic. Confidential emails can be sent to sseay@aol.com, or you can call Steve Seay at 865-690-7499.

Eastern Cornbelt: The anhydrous ammonia market was unchanged at $690-$705/st FOB regional terminals, depending on location and time of delivery. Sources reported tight inventories at terminal locations.

Western Cornbelt: The anhydrous ammonia market remained in the $670-$700/st range FOB regional terminals. Missouri sources quoted delivered tons in the $685-$700/st range from southern production points, while western Iowa contacts pegged delivered ammonia as high as $740-$750/st last week.

Effective Nov. 24, Agrium’s ammonia postings in the Leal/Beulah sales area in North Dakota firmed to $695/st FOB and $715/st DEL, up $25/st from the company’s Nov. 2 postings.

Southern Plains: Sources quoted the ammonia market at $600-$620/st FOB regional production points, depending on location and time of delivery, with the upper end of the range reported for prompt tons last week and the low for first-quarter spring prepay deliveries. The market out of pipeline terminals in Kansas was roughly $20-$30/st higher than production points.

South Central: Sources quoted the ammonia market at $650-$670/st FOB, with the low reported at Memphis, Tenn., for spring prepay and the upper end for limited tons out of Henderson, Ky. Ammonia barges were quoted at $420/st FOB the Gulf for the last business.

Western U.S.: Effective Nov. 24, Agrium’s anhydrous ammonia postings firmed to $720/st rail-DEL in southern Idaho and Utah, and $745/st truck-DEL in Montana and northern Wyoming. Those levels were up $25/st from Agrium’s Nov. 2 ammonia postings in those locations.

Middle East: A sale of Iranian material to India pushed down the low end of ammonia prices, much to the disgust of Arab producers. Sources report Iran had a cargo of 15,000 mt it had been trying to move for a couple of weeks. Sources say an Indian buyer stepped up and paid $424/mt CFR. The estimated netback put the product into the mid-$370s/mt to mid-$380s/mt FOB.

The move comes on the heels of the Arab producers successfully moving the price to $430/mt FOB last month in a spot sale by PIC.

Sales from Iran have long frustrated the efforts of Arab producers to move up the price. At the same time, however, Iranian sellers have become less willing to accept deep discounts from bidders.

With the latest deal, the price range is now pegged at $375-$430/mt FOB.

UREA

U.S. Gulf: The market was very quiet last week, with many players out of the office for a longer holiday. However, sources did report some business. The latest granular spot trades were reported at $375-$380/st FOB.

Despite a positive outlook for the spring season, one observer said last week that urea buyers are looking for imports to hold prices in line or make them go lower. He said expectations are that December imports will be plentiful as players move to get tons positioned for 2011.

Eastern Cornbelt: Granular urea was reported at $430-$445/st FOB regional terminals, reflecting another slight increase from last report. The low was reported FOB Cincinnati for spring prepay tons, with cash market urea tagged at $435/st FOB Cincinnati and $445/st FOB Toledo, Ohio.

Western Cornbelt: Granular urea remained at $420/st FOB most upriver points, with dealer postings as high as $440/st FOB from some Iowa suppliers. Effective Nov. 24, Agrium’s granular urea postings firmed to $465/st FOB North Dakota terminals at Alton, Carrington, Colfax, Scranton, and Grand Forks, and $470/st rail-DEL in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Dakotas. Those postings reflected a $20/st increase from Agrium’s Nov. 2 list prices, and a $40/st increase from Oct. 14 postings.

Southern Plains: Granular urea pricing had firmed to $410-$415/st FOB the Tulsa market, with most suppliers at the upper end of that range to the dealer.

South Central: Granular urea was quoted at $400-$415/st FOB regional terminals, with the low at Memphis and the upper end quoted in the Arkansas market to the dealer.

Southeast: Granular urea remained in a broad range at $420-$440/st FOB port terminals, with the upper end reflecting reference pricing to the dealer.

Western U.S.: Effective Nov. 24, Agrium’s granular urea postings firmed to $465/st FOB West Sacramento, Ca.; $465-$475/st DEL in Montana and Wyoming, depending on location; $485/st FOB Idaho warehouses at Acequia and Pella; $490/st truck-DEL in central California; $495/st truck-DEL in northern California; $500/st DEL in northern and central Utah; and $505/st DEL in southern Utah. Those levels were up $20-$40/st from Agrium’s Nov. 2 listings at those locations.

India: The urea market shot up dramatically once the prices offered in the IPL tender became public. Leading up to the tender, sources were expecting a $20-$30/mt bump in price. Instead, the industry said a $30-$40/mt rise was called for.

And now, IPL is said to be fighting to keep prices below $400/mt CFR. One source said the IPL goal is $397/mt CFR for the east coast ports and $399/mt CFR for the west coast.

To be fair, some offers came in below $400/mt CFR, but with the exception of Neramac, most of those firm offers were for limited quantities with short validity dates.

Keytrade, for example, offered 25,000 mt at $398/mt CFR – but with a validity period that ended Nov. 22, the day the tender offers were opened.

Transammonia offered 25,000-50,000 mt at $399.47/mt CFR with the validity period as called for in the tender documents. The Trammo optional offer of 50,000-100,000 mt came in at $400/mt CFR. Asian sources question whether the Neramac offer will be accepted.

IPL would be hard pressed to turn down an offer that is about $15/mt below the company’s new target price. Sources say, however, that because the company is unknown in the usual urea trading circles and offered such a low price, IPL may find a way to disqualify the firm rather than face the problem of possibly not getting the promised tons in time.

One Asian trader said even though the company filed the proper tender bonds, IPL might find fault with some other paperwork, such as a certificate of support from a producer.

Last year at this time, IPL had contracted to receive about 300,000 mt in a side deal following a tender. Many of the tons promised in that deal never arrived because the price moved up faster than the traders involved anticipated.

Rather than look foolish for ordering tons that may never arrive, sources say IPL might forego the Neramac offer unless all the paperwork falls into place.

All told, firm offers totaled about 1.1 million mt. Optional urea offers came in for an additional 720,000 mt.

IPL negotiators were hard at work as soon as the tender results were made public. Sources say some of the companies that offered in the low $400s/mt CFR might be willing to accept a sub-$400/mt CFR price.

The tender tally follows.

For the Indians, 2010 is beginning to look like 2007. In the last quarter of 2007 the imported price of urea started moving up rapidly. At this time in 2007, offers in the IPL tender were about the same as the one that closed last week.

By the middle of 2008, that price had moved to nearly $900/mt CFR.

Sources say the dynamics of 2007-2008 and 2010-2011 are not the same, but that does not mean the price could not continue to rise.

The Indian finance ministry is especially concerned about the rising price of urea.

Besides paying more to foreign producers for the product, the ministry must also pay out subsidies to local farmers. The higher the imported price, the higher the subsidy payments become.

In 2008 the payments were so high that the government was in arrears to distributors and farmers for several months. Efforts to get the rising cost of subsidies under control have only met with limited success, say Indian government watchers.

China: The anticipated announcement of a change in China’s export policy came early last week. The export duty will rise to 110 percent effective Dec. 1 instead of Jan. 1.

The higher duty will remain in effect through June 2011. Beginning July 1 the duty will drop to 7 percent. It will then return to 110 percent on Nov. 1 for the rest of the year.

The new plan provides for a more manageable schedule of export opportunities, said one trader. In the past two years the low-tariff period came in and out, sometimes for only 30 days.

The new plan, say sources, will tighten the period of exports to a single window of four months. That means, they say, that material will have to be booked, sent to a port, processed by customs officials, and loaded on a vessel within that period.

One trader said a leeway of no more than 15 days may be allowed if the urea is already processed for export and a vessel is waiting in the harbor for a berth.

The move to reduce export opportunities for urea comes as the government is trying to get a grip on a growing problem of inflation.

Currently urea is selling on the domestic market for about RMB1900 (US$286)/mt FOB. The government planners would like to see the price down around RMB1600-1700/mt FOB (US$240-$255/mt FOB). These are prices right from the factory. Before the urea can be sold offshore, the cost of transportation to the port and port storage has to be added.

Sources report that currently the ports are severely congested.

Some vessels reportedly have a 6-week wait before being able to load cargo.

One trader noted that the prices for Chinese material in the recent IPL tender most likely include the cost of having the vessel sit at anchor in a Chinese port for several weeks.

Likewise, sources say any Chinese material offered in the IPL tender should already be in a bonded warehouse at a Chinese port or on a floater. The expectation of a Dec. 1 increase in export duties forced a lot of players to either walk away from potential deals with urea manufacturers or move smartly to have a vessel waiting in Chinese waters for loading.

Sources say the Chinese government will allow a grace period for loading as long as all the customs paperwork is done, the urea is in a bonded warehouse, and a vessel has been named.

Middle East: The Arab producers showed they can be gracious while making a point. Even with confirmation of deals done at $400/mt FOB a week earlier, the producers offered material to India only a couple of dollars higher.

In the past, producers have been aggressive in their pricing ideas. They have tried to move the price up by $5-$15/mt, depending on their view of the market.

The offers made to IPL remained token tons – 25,000-50,000 mt. Sources say the Arab producers are fully booked with contracts for the U.S. and Latin America. One trader said the producers are under no pressure to sell.

The lack of openly Iranian tons in the IPL tender also shows that Iran is comfortable for the next couple of months.

Without any new spot or otherwise public deals, sources still peg the market at $390-$400/mt FOB. One trader said he thought granular might command a few extra bucks, but could not name any business to back up this belief.

Black Sea: Sources say to compete in a sub-$400/mt CFR Indian market – the goal of IPL in its current round of talks with suppliers – the Yuzhnyy market would have to be in the low-mid $360s/mt FOB. And that only works for a panama.

From the offers in the IPL tender identified as possibly coming from the CIS, sources say the industry clearly thinks the Yuzhnyy market is in the $380s-$390s/mt FOB – with the exception of Neramac.

Without any confirmed new business, sources say the market remains hovering at $375-$385/mt FOB.

Indonesia: Asian sources say Indonesia will be pretty much out of the export business for the next five to six months.

The final tons that need to be sold under the existing export permits are likely to go to private sales in an effort to diversify buyers.

Sources say the government will most likely set the 2011 export quotas in mid-March, but the first tenders won’t happen most likely until late April.

Sri Lanka: With limited options, the ministry of agriculture settled its urea tender. Sources say the government issued an award to World Epsyzon for 60,000 mt at $360/mt FOB, $410/mt CFR sight, $415/mt CFR 180 days, or $479.50/mt CFR 270 days.

Pakistan: According to local reports, private sector urea producer Engro Fertilizer Ltd. (FEL) has warned the government that natural gas curtailments could lead to the country needing to import more than 200,000 mt of urea in December in order to meet the deficit in Rabi season.

Separately, Engro told the local media that it hopes to get the first product from its new urea plant in December, with full capacity achieved next year. However, gas curtailments could be an issue.

NITROGEN SOLUTIONS

U.S. Gulf: The market was called quiet at $285-$290/st ($8.91-$9.06/unit).

Eastern Cornbelt: UAN pricing remained at $10.50-$10.89/unit FOB regional terminals. Ohio sources pegged the Cincinnati UAN-28 market at $10-50-$10.70/unit FOB, depending on supplier and time of delivery.

Western Cornbelt: UAN-32 was pegged at $320-$340/st ($10.00-$10.63/unit) FOB regional terminals for cash tons, with the low in southern Missouri on a spot basis. Spring prepay UAN tons were reported in the $340-$350/st ($10.63-$10.94/unit) FOB range in western Iowa.

Southern Plains: The UAN-32 market was steady at $315-$320/st ($9.84-$10.00/unit) FOB production points, with the low for spot tons and the upper end for first-quarter prepay tons. Kansas sources pegged the market at roughly $330/st ($10.31/unit) FOB out of inland terminals in late November.

South Central: The South Central UAN-32 market was quoted at $315-$320/st ($9.84-$10.00/unit) FOB regional terminals, up slightly from last report. The upper end of the range was quoted out of the Memphis market for prompt tons last week.

Southeast: UAN-30 was quoted at a solid $270/st ($9.00/unit) FOB port terminals last week, while Georgia sources tagged the UAN-32 market at the $290/st ($9.06/unit) level FOB inland terminals.

Western U.S.: Effective Nov. 24, Agrium’s UAN-32 postings firmed $10/st to $370/st ($11.56/unit) DEL in Montana and northern Wyoming, $353/st ($11.03/unit) FOB Sacramento, Ca.; $375/st ($11.72/unit) truck-DEL in Central California, and $380/st ($11.88/unit) truck-DEL in Northern California. Agrium’s UAN-28 posting in Montana and northern Wyoming firmed on Nov. 24 to $324/st ($11.57/unit) DEL.

AMMONIUM NITRATE

U.S.Gulf: While the last done business was reported at the $300-$302/st FOB level, sources say mid-to-late December cargoes are being offered at $320/st FOB.

Western Cornbelt: Ammonium nitrate was steady at $350-$365/st FOB in the region for any available tons, with the low in Missouri and the upper end quoted in the Iowa market.

Southern Plains: Ammonium nitrate had firmed to $340-$345/st FOB the Tulsa market.

South Central: Ammonium nitrate was quoted at $345-$350/st FOB regional terminals to the dealer, up some $15-$20/st from last report.

Southeast: The Tampa market for ammonium nitrate was pegged at $320-$325/st FOB in late November.

AMMONIUM SULFATE

Eastern Cornbelt: The granular ammonium sulfate market remained at $250-$260/st FOB, with mid-grade sulfate referenced at $240/st FOB and $250/st rail-DEL.

Western Cornbelt: Granular ammonium sulfate was tagged at $240-$260/st FOB in the region, with the low quoted in Missouri on a spot basis.

Southern Plains: Effective Nov. 11, American Plant Food’s granular ammonium sulfate postings in Texas firmed to $225/st FOB Freeport, $235/st FOB Galena Park, $250/st FOB Fort Worth, and $265/st FOB Littlefield. APF’s coarse grade postings moved to $215/st FOB Freeport, $225/st FOB Galena Park, $240/st FOB Fort Worth, and $255/st FOB Littlefield, while standard grade moved to $210/st FOB Freeport and $250/st Littlefield. APF’s N-Pac Compacted postings moved on Nov. 11 to $240/st FOB Galena Park. Those new postings reflected a $15/st increase from APF’s Oct. 4 ammonium sulfate postings.

Nov. 11 ammonium sulfate postings FOB Plainview, Texas, included $265/st for granular, $255/st for coarse, and $250/st for standard.

South Central: Granular ammonium sulfate had reportedly firmed to $235-$255/st FOB in the region, with the low in Arkansas. Effective Nov. 11, American Plant Food’s granular ammonium sulfate posting firmed to $255/st FOB Mermentau, La.

Southeast: Granular ammonium sulfate was unchanged at $210/st FOB and $225-$230/st DEL in the region. Regional producers were said to be allocating tons until they catch up on orders. Standard grade ammonium sulfate was pegged at $180/st DEL in Florida.

PHOSPHATES

Central Florida: In a really short holiday week for markets, most in the industry were more interested in the gobbler than gobbling up phosphate. Many took the whole week off, while others stared at their phones hoping for them to ring. One said it was a good week to do paperwork.

TFI issued its monthly report on inventories last week, and showed only about 750,000 st in bins, the lowest in more than a decade. Although phosphate plants were running at full tilt, the total was not likely to rise much because of the heavy export schedule to India.

Mosaic has been able to make a few sales out of Central Florida at $550/st FOB, which was within the current price range. In general, phosphate sales will be limited until the middle of December, when the prepay season begins, and prompt sales will be rare until early February.

With no new prompt sales last week, the Central Florida DAP price range was unchanged from the previous week at $540-$550/st FOB. Smaller lots from traders could cost $5-$10/st FOB more. CF’s price was $540/st FOB. Mosaic’s price was $550/st FOB. MAP was listed at a premium of $10/st FOB in comparison to DAP. PCS Sales was making sales at comparable prices to the market. Agrifos’ price for truck sales was $580/st FOB, and rail – if available – was $570/st FOB. The company had no MAP available for sale. Agrifos was expected to have enough product to carry it through the first quarter of next year.

U.S. Gulf: The combination of the slow Thanksgiving holiday week and the normal letdown after the end of the busy fall season left little or nothing on the plates of phosphate traders or producers in the NOLA barge market last week.

Not much was expected to change until mid-December, when the prepay period of spring gets rolling, but even that will come to a screeching halt before Christmas. Sources said prompt sales will remain as rare as those in Central Florida until sometime in February.

Meanwhile, DAP sales will be soft until the prepay period begins, possibly falling into the $530-$540/st FOB range. Prepay sales for MAP deliveries in February and March were done last week at the $570/st FOB level. No prepay or prompt DAP sales were found last week.

Crop prices were mixed, but all-important corn continued to drift south. On the futures board early last week, corn for next month fell from $5.41/bushel late the previous week to $5.17/bushel, and from $5.08/bushel to $4.83/bushel for Dec. 2011. Soybeans for November 2011 were pegged at $11.31/bushel. Wheat for July 2011 moved down slightly from $7.25/bushel late the previous week to $7.2025/bushel early last week. Although generally down, prices for farmers should be substantial enough to warrant normal or extra phosphates for spring.

Based on new sales last week, the NOLA DAP barge market was $530-$545/st FOB, although the price will probably continue to be soft until sales return early next year, according to sources. Paper trades were done as low as $525/st FOB, which matched reports of a sale the previous week. MAP should become a little more plentiful, after Ameropa brings in the next surge of Russian vessels. MAP was bringing a premium of $10/st FOB for NOLA barges and $10-$20/st FOB at terminals.

Eastern Cornbelt: DAP was quoted at $615-$625/st FOB to the dealer, with the upper end out of the Toledo market. MAP was pegged at $630-$650/st FOB, where available; several sources said MAP inventories were out in their locations. 10-34-0 was quoted firmly at the $525/st FOB level for very limited tons in the region.

Western Cornbelt: The DAP market was tagged at $605-$620/st FOB in the region, down just slightly from the premium reached in recent weeks, when product was running hard.

MAP inventories remained extremely tight in the region. “We get stuff in and it goes back out quickly,” said one Missouri contact. Sources quoted the MAP market at $620-$645/st FOB in the region, also down from last report, with the low reported in Missouri and the upper end in the Iowa market.

The only spot quotes reported for 10-34-0 last week were in the $520-$525/st FOB range in Iowa, but most sources said spot tons were simply unavailable in the region.

Southern Plains: DAP was quoted at $610-$615/st FOB the Tulsa market. MAP remained in very tight supply, and was priced significantly higher than DAP at a solid $660/st FOB for any available tons. 10-34-0 was in even tighter supply in late November; sources reported no spot tons available and no pricing quotes last week.

Effective Dec. 1, Agrium’s phosphoric acid postings are slated to firm to $1,075/st DEL for both SPA and MGA in Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.

South Central: The DAP market in the South Central region remained at $590-$595/st FOB warehouses to the dealer. No spot quotes were reported for MAP in the region; sources said tons were very scarce out of the warehouse system. TSP was pegged at $490-$500/st FOB the warehouse, with the low quoted at Memphis.

U.S. Export: No new export phosphate sales were found last week, although the week was cut short by the Thanksgiving holiday.

TFI issued its export report for October. For the month, DAP exports were down by 32.6 percent at 461,699 mt. India received the bulk of the total at 444,229 mt. Coming in a distant second was Colombia, 9,535 mt, followed by the Dominican Republic, 5,510 mt. For the calendar-year-to-date, India, of course, was the biggest customer and accounted for more than half of the total exports for the year – 2,653,593 mt, which was a decrease compared to 2009 of 21.9 percent for the year. Total DAP exports for the calendar year were 4,046,288 mt, a decrease of 19.3 percent compared to 2009. Mexico was the next largest importer of U.S. DAP for the calendar year at 189,283 mt, with Australia the third biggest, 171,192 mt, thus far this year.

TFI said Brazil was the major importer of U.S. MAP in October and for the calendar-year-to-date. In October, that country took 84,094 mt, which was more than half the monthly total for MAP, 139,491 mt. The monthly total represented a decrease from 2009 of 4.6 percent. For the calendar-year-todate, Brazil had received 517,505 mt, which was more than a third of the total of 1,506,484 mt. Total MAP exports for the calendar year were up 8.4 percent compared to the previous year in October. After Brazil was Canada at 262,461 mt, while Australia with 252,542 mt rounded out the top customer list for the calendar year. Other major MAP importers for October included Argentina at 17,647 mt, Colombia at 15,708 mt, and Canada at 15,664 mt.

The export price range last week was unchanged at a flat $600/mt FOB.

China: The export window for DAP narrowed. The government announced last week that the export duty will rise to 110 percent effective Dec. 1 instead of Jan. 1. The high tax rate will remain in effect through May 2011. The lower rate of 7 percent will be in effect for June, July, August, and September. Beginning Oct. 1 the rate will go back to 110 percent for the rest of the year.

POTASH

Eastern Cornbelt: Potash was steady at $510-$515/st FOB regional warehouses, and remained in very tight supply.

Western Cornbelt: Potash was tagged at $500-$521/st FOB regional warehouses, depending on grade and location. Both the high and the low were reported in the Missouri market, with the upper end quoted for white granular tons out of spot Missouri River terminals.

Tight inventories for potash and phosphates continued to be reported in the region in late November. “Right now is a limbo period,” said one Iowa source, noting that the heaviest fall push was winding down. “In December, clarity will come.”

Southern Plains: Sources pegged the potash market at $505-$515/st FOB regional warehouses, where available. Tons remained very tight out of the Tulsa market. Potash pricing FOB Carlsbad, N.M., was steady at $480/st for 60 percent standard, $482/st for 62 percent standard, $485/st for 60 percent granular and 62 percent fine standard, and $493/st for 62 percent granular.

South Central: Most South Central sources pegged the potash market at a solid $495-$510/st FOB regional warehouses last week, with the low at Memphis and the upper end out of spot Arkansas locations. Inventories remained very tight. Potash barges were said to be trading at the $475/st FOB level at the U.S. Gulf.

Southeast: The potash market was reported at $530-$535/st DEL in the region, with regional warehouses listed at $522-$525/st FOB for red granular tons.

SULFUR

Tampa: The demand for sulfur continued to outstrip supply last week, but that may ease just a bit. China will begin its export tariff on phosphate on Dec. 1 instead of Feb. 1, 2011, which will not be welcome news in Vancouver. If so, a source said more of Canada’s sulfur production would go to the U.S. or be blocked. That could not only ease the supply situation, but could affect molten prices at Tampa.

With refinery rates lower than normal and the refinery turnaround season getting ready to start, other factors will make sulfur less available during the first quarter of next year.

Spot sulfur sales into Tampa were running about $30/lt DEL higher than the current contract price, which would put it in line with world prices, which are normally made on an mt FOB basis.

Vancouver: There were a few sweaty palms in Vancouver last week, as exporters heard the reports that China had or was about to impose the 110 percent tariff on phosphate exports. However, another source questioned whether the tariff would really affect sulfur consumption – if the purpose of the tax was to keep more phosphate in the country for internal use, wouldn’t they need the same amount of sulfur? Still another said the move might mean less phosphate would be produced on an incremental basis, if the country’s export market was shut down. It was generally believed the move would result in lower sulfur imports.

Pakistan: Oil & Gas Development Co. has issued a tender to sell 10,000 mt of sulfur at a minimum base price of Rs.19,121 per mt (about US$225/mt) in ten various sized lots, ranging from 200 mt to 3,000 mt. The last date for bids is Nov. 30.

MARKET NOTES

Bangladesh: The Bangladesh Ministry of Industries, through BCIC, has issued a tender and asked consultants to submit an expression of interest (EOI) by Nov. 30 to render consultancy services for three years to set up a 580,800 mt/y of granular urea Shahjalal Fertilizer Project (SFP). The job requires the guidance and monitoring of a world-class ammonia and urea complex having auxiliary and ancillary facilities at Fenchuganj, Sylhet, in northern Bangladesh. A general contractor to implement the complex will be appointed soon, says a document of BCIC. China has already assured Bangladesh regarding the financing of the project, to the tune of over $500 million.

The Bangladesh government has launched the country’s first China-funded urea fertilizer factory in the Sylhet district amid growing demand of the major agricultural input, which is expected to cut dependence on fertilizer imports to a large extent. The Shahjalal Fertilizer Factory is one of three new fertilizer factories that the government plans to set up in the country. If things go as planned, the Shahjalal Fertilizer Factory, with daily production capacity of 1,760 mt of urea, could go into operation by 2013.

The other two factories are the North West Fertilizer Factory and the Bhola Fertilizer Factory. The North West Fertilizer Factory will be set up in Sirajganj. The Chinese government has also expressed its eagerness to finance the setting up of these two factories as well.