India's Kharif supply boost: Four fertiliser ships safely pass through Strait of Hormuz after US-Iran peace deal

Four shipments carrying key fertiliser inputs, including urea, diammonium phosphate (DAP), and sulphur, have safely passed through the Strait of Hormuz and are currently on their way to India, the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers announced on Monday.

This comes after United States and Iran signed a 14-point interim Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to halt ongoing hostilities and establish a 60-day negotiation window for a final peace settlement.

The consignments are expected to arrive at the ports of Krishnapatnam, Kakinada, Paradip, and Mundra. Once unloaded, the supplies will help strengthen the country's fertiliser reserves and support agricultural demand during the ongoing Kharif sowing season, as per PTI.

According to the ministry, India's fertiliser output has totalled 133.12 lakh tonnes since March 1, while imports during the same period have reached 43.69 lakh tonnes.

The government has also secured an additional 17.70 lakh tonnes of urea through a recent international procurement process. With this purchase, the total volume of urea and phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertilisers arranged for the Kharif season now exceeds 90 lakh tonnes, the ministry said.

India has secured urea imports from a diverse group of countries, including Oman, Malaysia, Vietnam, Georgia, Nigeria, Russia, Finland, Egypt, Algeria, Turkey, and the Netherlands. Meanwhile, shipments of DAP and NPK fertilisers are being transported through the Red Sea from suppliers in Russia, Morocco, Egypt, the United States, Jordan, South Korea, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia.

The Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers mentioned that total fertiliser inventories reached 196.08 lakh tonnes as of June 22, compared with 168.67 lakh tonnes during the same period last year. Stocks of urea increased to 81.44 lakh tonnes from 69.21 lakh tonnes, while DAP inventories rose to 20.92 lakh tonnes from 16 lakh tonnes. NPK fertiliser reserves also grew, reaching 55.91 lakh tonnes compared with 46.13 lakh tonnes a year earlier.

Inventories of Muriate of Potash (MoP) climbed to 12.68 lakh tonnes from 10.68 lakh tonnes in the corresponding period last year. In contrast, stocks of Single Super Phosphate (SSP) recorded a slight decline, falling to 25.13 lakh tonnes from 26.65 lakh tonnes.

Fertiliser consumption has remained robust, with total sales since March 1 touching 153.4 lakh tonnes, surpassing the 140.2 lakh tonnes recorded during the same period last year. Of the total sales, urea accounted for 79.1 lakh tonnes, followed by NPK fertilisers at 34.8 lakh tonnes and DAP at 19.8 lakh tonnes.

The ministry said it is maintaining close coordination with state authorities, fertiliser distributors, and cooperative organisations to ensure uninterrupted availability of fertilisers and keep supplies adequately managed across the country.

Meanwhile, to deconflict maritime tensions in the Middle East, the United States and Iran will establish a direct communication line to safeguard commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, according to a joint statement by mediators Pakistan and Qatar on Monday after first round of talks in Switzerland. It aims to prevent military incidents and miscommunications in the strategic waterway.

Iran effectively shut down traffic through the Strait of Hormuz following military strikes by the United States and Israel on February 28, a move that triggered a sharp surge in global fuel prices. Under the interim agreement intended to halt the conflict, the strategic waterway was expected to resume normal operations.

While numerous vessels successfully transited the strait over the weekend, key sections of the main shipping corridor remain closed due to the presence of naval mines, limiting a full return to normal maritime traffic.

Garvit Bhirani is a journalist based in Gurugram. He is a Deputy Chief Content Producer at LiveMint, where he covers national and international news stories, focusing on accuracy and compelling storytelling for readers. <br><br> With a total of six years of experience in journalism, he has previously worked with Vaco Binary Semantics for Google, taking on the role of news curation lead, and reported from the field on health, education, and agriculture stories for 101reporters and News9. He has also served as a content editor for entertainment and news media organisations. <br><br> Garvit holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism and mass communication from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University and Gurugram University, respectively. During college days, he joined India’s only non-profit student journalism network, where he anchored daily news updates and produced his own weekly show called ‘Data Fix’. <br><br> He was selected for the YES Foundation Media for Social Change Fellowship in Delhi, the Talking Data to the Fourth Pillar residential workshop, and the VOICE Fellowship in Pune. <br><br> He holds certificates in COVID-19-verification reporting, data journalism, food & agriculture, tech policy, media literacy and countering misinformation, and tackling election disinformation courses from Thomson Foundation, IndiaSpend, The Dialogue, US Mission in India, and AFP. <br><br> He can be reached on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/garvit-bhirani">LinkedIn</a> or on <a href="https://x.com/GarvitBhirani">@garvitbhirani</a> on X

Stay updated with the latest Trending, India , World and US news.