India's DAP fertiliser imports from China decline significantly

India has imported 8.47 lakh tonnes of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) fertiliser from China by February this year. This amount makes up 19.17% of the total DAP imports, which are 44.19 lakh tonnes in this fiscal year. In the previous year, China was a larger supplier, providing about 40% of India's DAP imports. During that time, India imported 22.28 lakh tonnes from China out of a total of 55.67 lakh tonnes. DAP is the second most popular fertiliser in India, right after urea. India also sources DAP from other countries like Russia, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and Jordan. The fertiliser can come as a finished product or as raw materials such as rock phosphate. For the current rabi season, India has more DAP fertiliser available than needed. The estimated requirement is 52 lakh tonnes, while 48 lakh tonnes have already been sold. As of March 11, there is a closing stock of 9.43 lakh tonnes of DAP in India. However, domestic production faces several difficulties. These include issues like marketing limits, high inventory levels, and lack of manpower. Additional challenges consist of raw material shortages, storage issues, and increased costs, along with disruptions from natural disasters such as floods.