Page 8 - Fertilizers

UPL Ltd Q2 net profit up 25.19% on robust sales despite Ukraine impact

Agro-chemicals maker UPL Ltd on Tuesday posted a 25.19 per cent jump in its consolidated net profit at Rs 969 in the second quarter of FY23 on strong sales, despite some impact faced due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis. The company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 774 crore during the second quarter previous year. "Due to ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, and the sanctions in the region, the Group's business has been impacted to some extent," the company said in a regulatory filing. The Group is having approximately Rs 86 crore of inventory and Rs 54 crore of receivables as on September 30 in this war affected region, it said, adding that the company is continuously monitoring the situation. "The Group continues to do business in these two countries and taking necessary steps to protect itself from various risk involved. Management is confident of realisation of these assets," UPL added. According to the filing, the company's net income rose 18.35 per cent to Rs 12,50

PM Modi launches single brand 'Bharat' for subsidised fertilisers

The Centre has started a new scheme - Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Jan Urvarak Pariyojana - One Nation One Fertiliser - under which it is mandatory for companies to market all subsidised fertilisers under single brand 'Bharat'. The prime minister launched the single brand Bharat under the scheme during the two-day event PM Kisan Samman Sammelan 2022 being held here. This is being done to prevent criss-cross movement of fertilisers and reduce high freight subsidy. All subsidised soil nutrients - urea, di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), Muriate of Potash (MoP) and NPK - will be marketed under the single brand Bharat across the nation. Modi also inaugurated 600 PM Kisan Samruddhi Kendras (PM-KSK) that will act as a one-stop-shop for farmers who can buy products and avail multiple services related to the agriculture sector. The Centre intends to convert more than 3.3 lakh fertiliser retail shops in the country into PM-KSK in a phased manner. The PM-KSK will supply agri-inputs like seeds, ...

Centre to soon launch 600 Kisan Samriddhi Kendras to benefit farmers

Fertilizer shops to act as one-stop solution provider for all need of growers

UN pushes for global fertiliser price cut to avoid future supply crisis

The United Nations is pushing to cut the price of fertilisers to avoid a "future crisis" of availability, said a senior U.N. trade official

Hurricane Ian has potential for 'catastrophic' chemical leak in Florida

As Floridians board up their homes and businesses brace for Hurricane Ian's impact, environmental groups worry there's one big hazard that's been left exposed to storm damage

India's potash facing demand destruction as world reels from high prices

Potash consumption will probably fall to 3 million tons in the year through March 2023 from 5 million a year earlier

Depreciating rupee not likely to cause fiscal slippage, say experts

Petroleum, fertiliser imports to become expensive, subsidy bill set to rise

No shortage of fertilisers in the country; no hike in prices: Mandaviya

Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday said there is no shortage of crop nutrients in the country and asserted that there will be no hike in the prices of non-urea products. The minister also said that Nutrient Based Policy (NBS) for Phosphatic and Potassic (P&K) fertilisers for the Rabi season (October 2022 to March 2023) will be announced shortly. "There is no shortage of fertilisers in the country," Mandaviya told reporters on the sidelines of the International Dairy Federation (IDF) World Dairy Summit here. He was responding to a query about the supply situation for the upcoming Rabi sowing season that would start from October. On when the government would announce the NBS policy for P&K fertilisers for the Rabi season, he said it will be done shortly after analysing international prices. "We will not allow any increase in retail prices of DAP (Di-ammonium Phosphate) and other non-urea fertilisers," Mandaviya said, adding that the government

Best of BS Opinion: Unproductive policy, the Truss factor, and more

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for Wednesday

Unproductive fertiliser policy

New fertiliser branding plan must be reviewed

Procedures fully followed for nano urea fertiliser approval: Govt

The government on Sunday said established procedures have been fully followed while provisionally approving nano urea based on encouraging field results and feedback from farm scientists at ICAR and state universities. In June 2021, cooperative IFFCO launched nano urea in liquid form as an alternative to conventional urea. It has set up manufacturing plants to produce nano urea and is also selling in the market. In a statement, the Chemicals and Fertilisers Ministry said: "It is clarified that the established and existing procedure for registration of any fertiliser for notification as per Fertiliser Control Order (FCO), 1985 has been fully accounted for". The process has not been fast-tracked, the ministry asserted. Nano Urea has been notified provisionally under the FCO based on the existing procedure for introduction of fertilisers under FCO, 1985, which requires data from only two seasons, it added. "Nano Urea has been provisionally notified under FCO based on encouraging resu

All subsidised fertilisers to be sold under single brand 'Bharat' from Oct

All subsidised fertilisers including urea and DAP will be sold under the single brand 'Bharat' from October, a move aimed at ensuring timely availability of soil nutrients to farmers and reducing the freight subsidy. Announcing the new initiative 'One Nation One Fertiliser' under the fertiliser subsidy scheme 'Pradhanmantri Bhartiya Janurvarak Pariyojna (PMBJP)', Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the companies are allowed to display their name, brand, logo and other relevant product information only on one-third space of their bags. On the remaining two-thirds space, he said the Bharat brand and PMBJP logo will have to be shown. The companies have been given time till year-end to clear their old stock. In the last financial year, the central government incurred a fertiliser subsidy bill of Rs 1.62 lakh crore. In view of a sharp rise in global prices in the last 5-6 months, the government's subsidy bill is estimated to rise to Rs 2.25 lakh crore in the curren

Higher gas prices deepen Europe's fertiliser crunch, threaten food crisis

Russia's squeeze on gas shipments in the wake of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine is hurting industries across Europe

Will 'one nation one fertiliser' lead to uniformity or anonymity?

Under 'One Nation One Fertiliser' all fertiliser bags, irrespective of their contents or the company that manufactures them, will carry a uniform brand name called "Bharat"

'One Nation, One Man, One Fertilizer': Congress takes dig at govt's order

The Congress on Thursday slammed the government's reported order directing all fertilizer companies to sell their products under a single brand, describing it as "one nation, one man, one fertilizer". In a bid to bring about uniformity in fertiliser brands across the country, the government issued an order directing all companies to sell their products under a single brand name of 'Bharat', media reports said. "Nothing that the Sarvavyapi does for self-promotion should surprise us anymore. Latest is the decision to sell all fertilizers under one brand and that too as part of PM-BJP (Bharatiya Janurvarak Pariyojana)," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said. "One Nation, One Man, One Fertilizer!" he tweeted.

Subsidy withdrawal risk rings warning bell for fertilisers

Notwithstanding soaring input costs and supply snags, market has been bullish on fertiliser companies, thanks to the govt's subsidy support. But why are analysts cautious on fertiliser companies?

India set to be self-sufficient in urea by 2025 with six new plants

The commissioning of new plants is expected to bring down import dependency to less than half the current levels

India set to be self-sufficient in urea by 2025 even without help from nano

The commissioning of new plants is expected to bring down import dependency to less than half of current levels

Govt unearths leakages of Rs 100 crore in urea usage in two months

Per year, about 1-1.2 million tonnes of urea meant for farming gets diverted towards industrial use, say officials

India to be self-sufficient in urea by 2025-end, says Mandaviya

India will not need to import urea by 2025-end as the domestic production of conventional urea and nano liquid urea is expected to be sufficient, Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said