Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 20
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
Iran imported 233,576.6 tons of various fertilizers, worth $141.372 million in the first nine months of the current fiscal year (started March 20, 2017).
The country’s fertilizer imports witnessed a rise by 47.8 percent in terms of volume and 16.9 percent in terms of value, respectively, year-on-year, according to the agriculture ministry data.
The Islamic Republic imported 66,722.8 tons of phosphorus fertilizers, worth $23.24 million in the 9-month period, 2,737 percent more in terms of volume.
The value of the imported phosphorus fertilizers also registered a huge rise by 947 percent.
Potassium fertilizers ranked first among Iran’s fertilizer imports. The country imported 98,553.3 tons (4.5 percent more) of phosphorus fertilizers, worth 54.294 million (6.6 percent increase) in the 9-month period.
Iran also exported 2.37 million tons of various fertilizers, worth $504.5 million during the first nine months of the current fiscal year.
Iran’s fertilizer exports witnessed a fall by 3.7 percent in terms of volume and 15 percent in terms of value, respectively, year-on-year.
Urea ranked first among the exported fertilizers.
Iran’s urea export in the first nine months of the current fiscal year amounted to 2.3 million tons, worth $491.9 million.
However the country’s urea export decreased by 3.6 percent in terms of volume and 13.6 percent in terms of value compared to the first nine months of the last fiscal year.
The removal of the nuclear related sanctions against Iran in 2016 raised expectations that the Islamic Republic will give a boost to urea fertilizer exports. It was expected that foreign fertilizer traders, who were deprived from Iran market, take advantage of the sanctions’ removal to involve the business opportunities in this market.
However, the latest official statistics indicate that Iran’s urea production during the current fiscal year (started March 20), has registered a slight rise, meanwhile the exports have even witnessed considerable fall.
According to the country’s industry ministry’s data, Iran’s urea output stood at 3.06 million tons in the first seven months of the current fiscal year, 5.1 percent more compared to the same period of the preceding year.
Iranian officials say that the decline is due to overhaul operations carried out in the petrochemical units, producing urea fertilizer.
Iran’s urea production capacity is planed to reach 14.7 million tons by 2022, under the sixth five-year economic development plan from the current level of 5 million tons.