Transport companies are showing less interest to deliver fertilizers to Nepal due to poor facilities at the port. [break]
“We have sent a proposal to the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives (MoAC) for the imports of fertilizer from India to avoid inconveniences at Kolkata port,” Pashupati Gautam, managing director of Agriculture Inputs Company (AIC) - the state owned distributor of agriculture inputs - told Republica.
MoAC will request India to supply 60,000 tons of Urea and 40,000 tons of Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) from India.
Inconvenient facilities such as insufficient water level for large ships and high demurrage charges due to delay in clearance of goods from the dock are the major reasons that are deterring transport companies to ship fertilizers to Nepal.
Bulk International of Bangladesh had recently paid Rs 18.5 million and Rs 15.5 million as penalty to Nepal after it failed to deliver fertilizers on time. It had also paid a demurrage charge of $150,000 to Kolkata port authority.
Responding to the government call, only a few international transport companies have bid to supply 10,000 tons of Urea and 20,000 tons of DAP from overseas markets.
According to Gautam, Mid Gulf International of Cyprus, Saunders Company of Turkey and Emirates Trading of Dubai have shown interest to transport Urea fertilizers at $499, $438.50 and $424 per tons respectively. Similarly, Mid Gulf International and Saunders Company have offered to transport DAP fertilizers at $708 and $658 per ton respectively.
India had agreed in November to supply 50,000 tons of chemical fertilizers - 30,000 tons Urea, 15,000 tons DAP and 5,000 tons of potash - to Nepal at international parity price.
At present, AIC has 5,350 tons of Urea, 675 tons of DAP and 5,000 tons of potash in stock. AIC distributes subsidized fertilizers through its 41 outlets across the country.
The Indian government had recently agreed to supply 50,000 tons of fertilizers as per Nepal´s request. The government has allocated Rs 1.77 billion to import over 100,000 tons of chemical fertilizers for the fiscal year ending mid-July.
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