Reuters :
China is rolling out a quota system to limit exports of phosphate, a key fertiliser ingredient, in the second half of this year, analysts said, citing information from the country’s major phosphate producers.
The quotas, set well below year-ago export levels, would expand China’s intervention in the market to keep a lid on domestic prices and protect food security while global fertiliser prices are hovering near record highs. Last October, China also moved to curb exports by introducing a new requirement for inspection certificates to ship fertiliser and related materials, contributing to tight global supply.
Fertiliser prices have been buoyed by sanctions on major producers Belarus and Russia, while surging grain prices are boosting demand for phosphate and other crop nutrients from farmers around the world.
China is the world’s biggest phosphates exporter, shipping 10 million tonnes last year, or about 30 per cent of total world trade. Its top buyers were India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, according to Chinese customs data.
China appears to have issued export quotas for just over 3 million tonnes of phosphates to producers for the second half of this year, said Gavin Ju, China fertiliser analyst at CRU Group, citing information from about a dozen producers who have been informed by local governments since late June.
That would mark a 45 per cent drop from China’s shipments of 5.5 million tonnes in the same period a year ago. The National Development and Reform Commission, China’s powerful state planning agency, did not respond to a request for comment on its quota allocations, which have not been announced publicly.
