Fertiliser cos can't increase prices at will, says Wattoo

ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Industries and Production Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo has taken a serious notice of the recent price hike of urea without taking the ministry into confidence and asked the private fertiliser producers to show responsible attitude in this regard.
He said that any price increase contemplated by the manufacturers due to genuine reasons must be shared in advance with the ministry to assess its justification. He cautioned that if the private producers continued to increase fertilizer prices as per their will, the federal government would use 'the Price Control and Prevention of Profiteering and Hoarding Act of 1977, which enables the government to fix the prices of the commodities.
The National Fertilizer Marketing Limited, a marketing company of NFC for selling and distribution of fertilizers, had informed that private fertilizer producers have increased the price of urea to Rs 690 per 50kg bag and retail price is Rs 710 per 50kg.
Wattoo said that despite having the relevant law to fix prices, the government has always shown its willingness to move forward by taking into account the genuine concerns of the private manufacturers.
He asked the private companies representatives to maintain the relationship of mutual respect, which in his view was only possible if private manufacturers showed seriousness at the highest level and attended crucial meetings. According to official data, total installed capacity of urea in Pakistan is 4.2 million tons per annum while that of DAP is 0.650 million tons per annum, local demand of urea is 5.2 million tons per annum and of DAP is 1.4 million tons per annum, and local production of both the fertilizers is 4.8 million tons and 0.65 millions tons respectively.