Safeguarding duties help Vietnam increase autonomy in fertilizer

It was the of leader of Plant Protection Department response to the request of some importers for a temporarily suspend the safeguarding duties on DAP products recently.

Trung told the Nong Nghiep (Vietnam Agriculture) Newspaper that: “Recent fertilizer fluctuations, especially the DAP, is following the law of market supply and demand in the world.”

Trung said the prices of all goods in the world have increased after the better control of COVID-19 in recent months. The recent increase in commodities such as oil and gas, chemicals, freight, and containers had made a direct impact on the world fertilizer industry.

The director said each year Viet Nam consumed about 10 to 11 million tonnes of fertilizers of all kinds including one million tonnes of DAP, adding basically, Vietnam has been self-sufficient in fertilizers for many years.

Last year, it exported more than 1 million tonnes of fertilizers of all kinds, said Trung.

According to his department, the total design capacity of fertilizer factories in Vietnam was up to 34 million tonnes year, therefore Trung said: “There is no shortage of fertilizers that will affect the country's agricultural production in the coming time.”

As for DAP fertilizer, he said that, not only in Vietnam, any country will protect its own domestically made products with mechanisms, supporting policies and measures to create an environment of fair and equal competition with imported products.

For example, local DAPs made in the three factories in Vietnam of Dinh Vu, Lao Cai and Duc Giang have helped the DAP prices remain stable for many years. At present, the prices of DAP produced domestically were lower than the imported DAP from VND4,000 to VND5,000 per kg.

 Trung said: “To produce the important products at lower prices with good, there is no reason we do not support the develop of the local DAP factories. When these businesses develop, the agricultural sector and farmers will enjoy a stable and long-term fertilizer market, avoiding dependence on other countries.”

Trung added that as the prices of DAP products increased sharply, his department asked those factories to restrict their export to give maximum priority to the local market.

At the same time, the department recommended and guided farmers to use fertilizers more economically and effectively as in fact, the use of fertilizers in Vietnam was very low at 50 – 60 per cent, leading to waste and environmental pollution.

As the prices of imported DAP fertilizer was up to VND 15,000-16,000 per kg, DAP importers submitted a petition to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and the Prime Minister proposed to temporarily suspend the safeguarding duties for the products.

However, after reviewing, evaluating and consulting relevant agencies, MoIt issued a notice saying that the imposition of safeguard duties was considered and calculated very carefully, adding as there was no regulation for the temporary cancellation of safeguard measures and the temporary fluctuations of the prices were the marker’s trend, it would not lift the tax on the imported products.