Fertiliser production to oustrip demand by 2015

The fertiliser industry’s production capacity is likely to surpass the country’s domestic demand by 1.7-2 million tonnes per year from 2010 to 2015, reported the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Both imported and domestically produced fertilisers are sold on the market in Viet Nam. Therefore, domestically produced fertilisers should be exported in the future.

The Viet Nam Fertiliser Association said that by 2010, the domestic urea fertiliser plants produced only 920,000-980,000 tonnes—180,000 tonnes from the Ha Bac Urea Fertiliser Plant and 800,000 tonnes from the Phu My Urea Fertiliser Plant—which is lower than the domestic demand of 2 million tonnes a year.

However, according to the association, from 2012 to 2015, the total domestic urea fertiliser production capacity will be 3.5 times higher than it is now, but the domestic demand will stand at 2 million tonnes per year.

This increase in production is due to many new and upgraded urea fertiliser plants, such as the Ca Mau, Ninh Binh and Cong Thanh plants, set to begin operations by 2015.

Currently, the PetroVietnam Fertiliser and Chemicals Corporation (PVFCCo) is exploring the export market and other industries that use urea fertiliser, such as the industry that produces melamine, the association said.

Under the development plans to be carried out by 2020, Viet Nam will build a fertiliser production system with state-of-the-art technologies and a distribution system.

The fertiliser industry should also focus on producing high quality products for domestic agricultural production, food security and for the promotion of exports, the ministry said. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam fertilizer industry