VINACHEM

Vietnam splashed out US$790 million to import 2.43 million tonnes of fertiliser in the first half of this year, a year-on-year increase of 21.8% in value and 1.2% in volume.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that in June alone, the country purchased 432,000 tonnes of fertiliser worth US$129 million.

Of the total import during January-June, imports of urea fertiliser mounted to 261,000 tonnes while those of SA fertiliser were 474,000 tonnes, up 16.2% and 7.8% from the same time last year, respectively.

Vietnam’s imports of organic fertiliser have surged in the past three years, reflecting increasing demand for the green product.

In 2017 alone, Vietnam imported about 220,000 tonnes of organic fertiliser, double the amount of 2016.

The country currently needs about 11 million tonnes of fertiliser a year. As of December 2017, the number of registered organic fertiliser products was 713, accounting for 5% of the total, while the number of inorganic products made up 93.7% and biological products 1.3%.

It aims to annually manufacture 3 million tonnes of organic fertiliser by 2020. - VNA -