India’s DAP production shakes off Covid-19 in May

Indian suppliers produced 325,000t of DAP last month, marking an uptick from 260,000t in April, latest provisional data show. The government's nationwide lockdown, which came into effect on 25 March, had constrained Indian fertilizer production in April.

 

But producers sought to ramp output back up ahead of the key kharif summer season, lifting May volumes. Imports of phosphoric acid, a key feedstock for DAP production, increased to 248,000t last month, up from 165,000t received in April, Argus' line-up data show. But domestic supply has yet to return to pre-lockdown levels, with May output down from 405,000t in the same month a year earlier and from a monthly average of 369,000t in the first quarter.

 

Indian fertilizer demand has remained strong overall, despite the coronavirus pandemic and macroeconomic uncertainty, with sales accelerating through May. Forecasts for a solid kharif rice crop and plentiful rainfall this June-September monsoon season have spurred farmer purchases.

India's DAP output