LAHORE - Owing to the huge gap of demand and supply in the country the urea fertilizer rates have constantly been increasing, as the prices of urea has jumped to Rs1850 from Rs1350, showing an increase of more than Rs500 during last one year.

The industry suggested that the expected shortfall of about 0.6 million tons of urea in early Rabi 2018-19 season could only be avoided by producing it locally instead of importing.

The rate of 50kg urea bag has improved to Rs1850 in different parts of the country against the maximum retail price of Rs1600. In Punjab and Sindh, urea is being sold for around Rs1750. In KPK, the situation is the worst as the fertilizer is being sold for up to Rs1850 due to low supply.

The experts also criticized the closure of three urea manufacturing plants, stating urea shortage has already hit the farming community hard due to rising cost of production.

They were of the opinion that priority should have been given to ensuring smooth supply of natural gas to the fertiliser plants at reasonable prices.