The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) has directed the Ministry of Industries and Production (MoI&P) to formulate a rationalized policy to ensure provision of fertilizer to farmers without any market distortion, official sources told Business Recorder.

These instructions were issued at a recent meeting of the ECC when a summary of the MoI&P regarding continuation of operations of Fatima Fertilizer (Sheikhupura plant) and Agritech came under discussion.

The Ministry of industries and Production stated that a meeting of Fertilizer Review Committee (FRC) was held on March 8, 2022 wherein National Fertilizer Development Centre (NFDC) had estimated that both SNGPL based plants, ie, Fatima Fertilizer (Sheikhupura plant) and Agritech, have to remain operational March 31, 2022 onward to meet the requirement of urea in the country.

The Petroleum Division informed the ECC that it is in the process of submitting summary to the ECC for shifting both SNGPL-based plants to indigenous gas.

The Ministry of Industries and Production, considering the gravity of the situation with reference to rising prices of RLNG and high international prices of urea, fully supported the proposal of shifting SNGPL based urea plants to indigenous gas.

Further, if both plants at SNGPL network were allowed to operate on RLNG at gas rate of Rs 839/MMBTU for the period April-December, then according to NFDC, a total of Rs 23.53 billion would be required against a total of Rs 58.03 billion required for the same quantity if it was imported from abroad.

The story was originally published in Business Recorder on April 02, 2022.