PKI claims urea still being smuggled to Afghanistan through Chaman, Torkham border crossings

LAHORE: The Pakistan Kissan Ittehad (PKI) alleged that urea is still being smuggled to Afghanistan through Chaman and Torkhum borders openly and said if not stopped this will lead to severe shortage of urea in Pakistan throughout the current calendar year besides making a severe dent in production of cotton and food crops.

“After the disaster of urea shortage during the November 2021 to February 2022 application season, now another huge disaster is in the making due to continuous smuggling as Afghani brokers present in the country are openly purchasing this fertilizer by the truckloads in the Goth Machi, Daharki, Multan urea mandis”, claimed PKI President Khalid Mahmood Khokhar while talking to journalists here on Wednesday.

He said smuggling of such large quantities of urea to Afghanistan and beyond will result in severe shortage in the coming fertilizer seasons in Pakistan. This will not only create severe shortage of Urea in Pakistan throughout 2022 but also register increase in the prices pushing it beyond the reach of Pakistani farmers.

Besides, urea shortage will leave a severe negative impact on production of export crops and food crops such as wheat, sugarcane and corn. Pakistan will end up importing large quantities of wheat and sugar. Pakistan will lose Food Security at a time of Global conflict.

The war in Ukraine has created a worldwide shortage of urea as Ukraine and Russia are major producers. This has increased the price of urea to around US 1000 per ton in the international market. Urea import cost is around Rs 10,000 per bag delivered to Pakistan whereas in Pakistan it is being sold at around 2000 per bag. It will be impossible for Pakistan to import urea at such high prices, Khalid Khokhar added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022