The domestic availability of Muriate of Potash (MoP) is expected to improve in the coming days as Indian companies and global suppliers have struck a deal to end a four-month deadlock over import price.
Indian fertiliser companies could not import MoP in the last four months because major suppliers like Canpotex refused to sell the farm nutrient at a price of USD 470 a tonne
settled with China.
“The deadlock is broken now. Indian companies will start importing potash and the availability will improve in the coming days,” a senior Fertiliser Ministry official told PTI.
The deadlock ended as Indian companies agreed to buy potash at a higher price of USD 530 a tonne during the fourth quarter of this fiscal. Earlier, Indian fertiliser firms were
not ready, the official noted.
Global potash supplier Canpotex, which controls the 60 per cent of the world’s potash market, has agreed to sell MoP at USD 470 a tonne to Indian companies for the second and third quarter of 2011-12 fiscal, and USD 530 a tonne for the fourth quarter, the official said.
Canpotex is the international marketing and distribution arm of Saskatchewan (Canada)-based potash producers—Agrium Inc, The Mosaic Company and Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc (PotashCorp).
According to a statement issued by PotashCorp, Canpotex has agreed to supply 6.7 lakh tonnes of MoP to two Indian firms — Tata Chemicals and Coromandel — at USD 470 a tonne during the third quarter (October-December 2011) and at USD 530 a tonne during the fourth quarter ending March 2012.
The fertiliser ministry official said that the country faced shortage of 1.7 million tonne of imported potash during April-July period of 2011-12 fiscal due to the deadlock.
India does not have any exploitable potash deposits and imports its entire requirements. MoP imports touched a record 6.4 million tonnes in 2010-11.
