Engro Corporation has raised urea prices by Rs400/bag. As a result of this price hike, urea prices now stand at Rs1,980/bag (inclusive General Sales Tax). This is the second price hike initiated by Engro this month, with the first hike occurring on October 4, 2011 when prices were increased by Rs202/bag.
In September, according to the official figures, Engro experienced a steep drop in its urea off-take that was 122k tonnes versus 150k tonnes in August. Urea retail prices in September stood at Rs1,611/bag versus Rs1,691/bag in August. Total urea production in September came in at 472k tonnes which was 2.6 per cent lower than the previous month’s total of 484k tonnes. 9MCY11 production is 2.4 per cent lower compared to the same period last year. On a year on year basis, urea off-take has improved by 1.2 per cent in 9MCY11 compared to the same period last year. While, on DAP front, Engro’s sales grow to 39k tonnes from 20k tonnes. On a YoY basis, the 9MCY11 off-take of this category is 5.2 per cent below the previous year’s level. Ali Hussain, an investment analyst, said that they were anticipating the possibility of this increment in light of the suspension of gas supplies to Engro’s EnVen facility since October 1st.
