ISLAMABAD, Oct 7: Industries and Production Minister Jehangir Khan Tareen has directed National Fertilizer Corporation (NFC) to carry out a plan for direct marketing of nitro phosphate (NP) fertilizer in order to control its price and stop black-marketing. The corporation was also asked to ensure availability of NP fertilizer in the market.

According to a press release, the minister also directed that the sale of NP to farmers should be made by NFC itself by storing it in warehouses instead of dealers to stabilize the prices of fertilizers.

The minister said this while presiding over a meeting to review the working and performance of National Fertilizer Corporation here on Thursday. Food, Agriculture and Livestock Minister Sikander Hayat Bosan was also present.

The minister also directed the ministry to evolve a system to monitor the price situation of NP urea in the country and its report must be submitted to the minister on weekly basis.

He asked NFC to issue notices to the dealers to ensure that urea and other fertilizers would be provided to the farmers on reasonable prices set by NFC and avoid any type of black-marketing otherwise their dealership would be cancelled.

National Fertilizer Corporation Chairman Zafar Abbas gave a detailed presentation to the minister regarding working and performance of his organization. The meeting discussed in depth the availability of urea in the country and highlighted the problems of shortfall of urea in the winter season.

The NFC chairman informed the minister that all-out efforts were being made to ensure availability of fertilizers throughout the country at uniform prices. He said the production of NFC companies had improved by 12 per cent (14,380 tons) over the last year despite disruption in gas supply to Pak-American.

The entire production of NFC units as well as carryover stocks of 37,606 tons were sold during the year, he said. To meet the shortfall of fertilizers, it is recommended to establish a new ammonia/urea plant which has been planned as a joint venture between NFC and International Petroleum Investment Company, Abu Dhabi, under the public-private partnership. The project is expected to attract Rs5 billion foreign investment in the country, the NFC chief informs the minister.