The sales of urea have broken all records and by the end of June it may reach close to 900k tons, said the market observers. “This is evident by the fact that with few days remaining in June the urea sales have already reached 820k-830k tons, said Farhan Mahmood of Topline Research. Last time, he said, such a huge monthly sales was witnessed in December 2009 when 912k tons of urea sold in a single month. But December is usually a peak season for urea. Such a huge recovery in June sales is due to pre-buying amid expected increase in urea prices if gas-cess is imposed and recovery in overall demand after lower than average sales in first five months. Out of 900k tons likely sales in June, sales of local branded urea would be around 95 percent mainly led by record sales of FFC and Engro. So far in June, imported urea available with NFML is estimated to be around 130-140k tons which also include portion of 100k tons tender floated few weeks back. Further local manufacturers are estimated to hold around 400k tons compared to 800k tons at the beginning of June 2012.
