Urea consignment arrives

September 08, 2013

A ship "MV Global Brave" carrying 52,000 tons of urea, arrived Gwadar port on Saturday. This urea consignment has been imported by Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) for domestic consumption to avoid nay shortage of commodity during up coming crop season.
"First urea consignment of 52,010 tons reached Gwadar port on Saturday morning and discharging of commodity has also started", TCP official confirmed. He aid that another shipment of 30,000 tons from China is expected to arrive on next Tuesday. Distribution, transportation and bagging of imported urea will be handled by M/s National Fertiliser Marketing Limited (NFML) to ensure timely availability of urea in the local market. Following the directives of the Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet TCP is engaged to import urea on urgent basis aimed to ensure sufficient urea supply during upcoming crop season. Overall, state-owned grain trader has finalised deals for the import of 0.3 million tons of urea to avoid any shortage in the domestic market.

Source

53,000 tons of imported urea to arrive today

Friday, 26 July 2013

A urea consignment of 53,000 tons, imported by Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP), will arrive here on Friday (today). In June this year, TCP had finalised a urea import deal with M/s Trammo for the import of 50,000 tons at $337.17 per metric ton C&F to cater the domestic demand. As per schedule provided by the M/s Trammo, a ship namely "MV Eleni D" carrying about 53,000 tons of urea will reach Pakistan on Friday (today). The shipment has already sailed from China and scheduled to berth at FAP terminal on July 26, 2013. Following the directives of the Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet, the TCP is engaged to import urea from international market aimed at meeting the domestic demand. Recently, TCP has also finalised another deal for the import of 75,000 tons of urea at $317 per ton, while another tender for the import of 225,000 tons is scheduled to be opened on July 30, 2013.

Source: Business Recorder

Ministry seeks to justify urea import

Friday, 19 July 2013

Ministry of Industries and Production has reportedly declared an ''emergency'' to justify import of 0.3 million tons of urea through a gallop tender. Official documents available with Business Recorder, Secretary Industries and Production, Shafqat Naghmi wrote a letter to the Finance Minister in which background of urea import was reported.
The documents further disclosed that Ministry of Industries and Production had moved a summary for the ECC vide No 11(3)/2005/P-1dated July 2, 2013 which was considered in the ECC meeting held on July 2, 2013. The summary contained two proposals: (i) the condition laid down under Rule 13 of PPRA Rules 2004 regarding international tendering response time of 30 days for gallop tender may be reduced to response time of 7 to 12 days and ;(ii) import of 500,000 tons urea for Kharif season 2013 may be approved. The decision of the ECC conveyed by the Cabinet Division shows that the ECC approved import of 0.3 million tons of urea. However, instead of reduction in tendering time under rule 13 of PPRA Rules, the following decision was conveyed that Ministry of Industries and Production should approach the competent authority regarding exemption from PPRA Rules in accordance with the provisions of Section 21 and 6 of PPRA Ordinance 2002 for import of urea."
Secretary Industries was of the view that even though the Ministry of Industries and Production is of the considered opinion that the decision was incorrectly recorded, yet in pursuance of the recorded decision, a letter was sent to Chairman PPRA Board/Secretary Finance for exemption from PPRA Rules. On July 10, 2013, the Finance Minister chaired a meeting of Price Monitoring Committee in which he enquired about the latest position regarding import of urea.
The Finance Minister was apprised of the position including Ministry of Industries and Production''s view that the minutes had been incorrectly recorded. The Finance Minister directed that the Ministry of Industries and Production may declare emergency under PPRA Rules 13 as per its request contained in the summary and request the Ministry of Commerce to float an international tender with one week response time.
The directives were conveyed to the Ministry of Commerce and the tender was scheduled to be opened on July 17, 2013. This position was also placed before the ECC in its subsequent meeting held on 11th July, 2013. "We have, however, received letter from the Cabinet Division conveying that the minutes of the meeting dated July 2, 2013 were correctly recorded and the decision should be implemented as recorded which entails seeking the exemption from PPRA Rules 13," the sources quoted Industries Secretary as saying in his letter.
Keeping in view the problems, Secretary Industries submitted the following options are available ;(i) to inform Ministry of Commerce that MoI&P is withdrawing its request for procurement of 300,000 tons of urea on emergency basis and accordingly call off the tenders to be opened on 17-07-2013, or; (ii) Chairman ECC may endorse the contention of MOI&P as stated at para 3 above that ECC in its meeting dated July 2, 2013 had approved declaration of emergency and reduction of response time to 7 days under Rule 13 of PPRA Rules. In this case the Cabinet Division may also be directed to record the decision correctly. The ECC, in its meeting on July 18, 2013 approved the recommendations of the Industries Ministry and directed the TCP to open first tender of 50,000 tons of urea on July 22, 2013.

Source: Business Recorder

TCP postpones urea tender

July 18, 2013 RIZWAN BHATTI

The Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) on Wednesday postponed opening of urea import tender as the Transparency International Pakistan has accused it of violating Public Procurement Rules 2004. According to Public Procure-ment Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules any procurement tender issued by government agencies will not be less than 30 days period and all government departments are required to take prior permission from PPRA, in case of short period tender.
However, the state-run grain trader on July 7, 2013 issued a gallop tender with 10 days period for the import of 0.3 million tons of urea through international suppliers without getting any prior permission from PPRA for a short period tender. Sources said that Transparency International Pakistan raised objection over this violation and refused to participate in the urea import tendering process, which forced the TCP to postpone the tendering process for a few days.
As per announcement the tender was scheduled to open on July 17, 2013 at 11 am at TCP head office and some bids were also submitted by pre-qualified bidders. However, TCP postponed the opening of urea import tender without quoting any reason. "Yes, the TCP has postponed the urea import tender and now the tender will be opened on Monday dated July 22, 2013 at 11:30 am," the TCP official said. He said that reportedly the tendering has been postponed following the directives of the federal government. Sources said earlier, TCP officials claimed that ministry of industries has already obtained a NOC from PPRA for gallop tender, however actually no permission was taken from PPRA for gallop urea import tender.
They said that Transparency International Pakistan''s strict attitude has compelled the TCP to delay the tendering and take prior NOC from PPRA before opening a gallop tender. "We regret to inform you that Transparency International Pakistan will not attend the tender opening meeting as this procurement is against the Public Procurement Rules 2004," said a letter sent to newly appointed Chairman TCP Rizwan Ahmed on Wednesday morning by Transparency International Pakistan advisor Adil Gilani.
With regard to short period for the tender, Transparency International Pakistan also advised TCP to postpone the tender for at least one week and simultaneously request PPRA for accordingly curtail the period of urea import tender as this procurement is required urgently. The authority to deal with public procurement rules 2004 is only and only the PPRA, who under the PPRA ordinance 2002 may accord such approvals, the letter said.
Source said in the letter, a copy of which also sent to DG NAB and MD PPRA, Transparency International Pakistan has requested the Managing Director Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) to take action under section 5(2) (a) "monitor application of the laws, rules, regulations, policies and procedures in respect of, or relating to, procurement," and under section 5 (2) (i) of the PPRA Ordinance. The Transparency International Pakistan has pointed out that the international prices of urea are coming down and in last few months it fell by 25 percent from $400 per ton (FoB) to $300 per ton and the delay in the process in this procurement is also expected to benefit Pakistan.

Source: Business Recorder

Import of urea: approval by ECC turns out to be mega scandal

July 18, 2013  MUSHTAQ GHUMMAN

The import of 0.3 million tons of urea recently approved by the Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has reportedly turned out to be a mega scandal as two ministries are challenging each other''s definition of "emergency". This issue will again be tabled before Finance Minister Ishaq Dar at a meeting of ECC scheduled for Thursday (today), well informed sources in TCP told Business Recorder.
The ECC had approved the import of 0.3 million tons of urea recently while setting aside the observations of Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) which opposed the proposal saying that "there is no emergency at present". According to relevant rules, a minimum period of 30 days is mandatory for International Competitive Bidding (ICB) to submit applications from the date of publication of advertisement notice in press whereas TCP gave only seven days, which has been found to be a violation of PPRA 2004. Ministry of Industries and Production argues that the urea supply situation is alarming and unless this commodity is imported at the earliest, the country will face a severe shortage during the present Kharif season. In order to ensure timely import, Commerce Ministry had requested for a gallop tender entailing exemption from PPRA Rules 2004 as per following: (i) the condition laid down under Rule 13 PPRA Rules 2004 regarding international tendering response time of 30 days for gallop tendering may be reduced to 7 to 12 days; and(ii) price matching may be allowed.
Ministry of Industries had declared emergency as per relevant rule of PPRA 2004 and directed the Commerce Ministry and Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to procure 0.3 million tons of urea for immediate crop use of the country for Kharif season 2013 through an international tender with seven days response, the sources added. Ministry of Industries reviews the fertiliser demand and supply situation and communicates its needs to the ECC accordingly and this time keeping in view the shortage in supplies due to less domestic production and demand of the growers, the ECC decided to import 0.3 million tons of urea. According to sources, Industries Ministry argues that keeping in view the shortfall of 0.3 million tons urea with a buffer of 0.2 million tons, the government needs to import a total of 0.5 million tons urea for Kharif 2013. At current international price, TCP would require $172 million.
The sources said Transparency International Pakistan had refused to attend urea tender on the plea that the procurement is against the PPRA Rules 2004. Transparency International Pakistan had advised the TCP to postpone the tender for at least one week and simultaneously requested PPRA for curtailment in the time period as the procurement was required urgently. Transparency International Pakistan also argued that international prices of urea are coming down and in the last two months it has declined by 25 per cent from $400 (FoB) to $300 (FoB) and the delay in the process in this procurement is also expected to benefit Pakistan.

Source: Business Recorder

Import 0.3 million tons of urea on urgent basis

July 11, 2013  RIZWAN BHATTI

The federal government has directed Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to import 0.3 million tons of urea on an urgent basis for Kharif season. On the recommendation of ministry of industries, the Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet, in its meeting dated July 2, 2013, had allowed import of 0.3 million tons of urea to avoid any shortage in the upcoming crop season.
Sources told Business Recorder Wednesday that following the decision of the ECC, the Ministry of Commerce has issued a formal directive to TCP for the import of some 0.3 million tons of the commodity from international market on an urgent basis as the domestic market may face some shortage in upcoming months due to slow production by local fertiliser producers owing to gas curtailment. In pursuance of the ministry''s directives, the state run grain trader is going to issue an international gallop tender today (Thursday) to invite bids from international suppliers for the import of urea, they added. In order to avoid any speculation, TCP will invite bids only from pre-qualified foreign suppliers/exporters, already registered with the corporation, for supply of urea in bulk through world-wide sources on Cost and Freight (C&F) basis. However, foreign suppliers, who have been defaulter or are in litigation with TCP, will not be eligible to participate in the tender unless they have redressed the grievances to the satisfaction of the corporation.
As per the tender documents, a copy of which made available to Business Recorder, urea to be supplied shall be strictly in accordance with the standard and specifications prescribed by Pakistan Standard & Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) and import policy order in force. TCP has fixed a minimum quantity of 75,000 tons for the bid and has decided not to accept bids less than 75,000 tons. In addition, as per the terms and conditions, the total quantity of urea must reach the designated port in Pakistan in accordance with the shipment schedule given in the tender documents, sources said.
According to TCP tender terms and conditions interested pre-qualified urea suppliers, who can supply urea form worldwide origins, may submit their bids in sealed envelops at TCP head offices during next seven days (till July 17, 2013 latest by 10:30 am) and bids will be opened on the same day after half an hour. The tender documents will be available at the head office and TCP''s regional offices located in Lahore and Islamabad from Thursday till deadline.
Sources said TCP is already engaged in the import of urea from two different sources - Saudi Arab under a credit facility and from international market through international tender. Sources said TCP is required to take some measurers or changes in its tender documents to avoid any mismanagement in the urea import tender as the contract award of previous urea import tenders was delayed due to some dispute.

Source: Business Recorder
News Collected by agrinfobank.com Team

53,000 tons of urea to arrive

July 03, 2013

A ship carrying 53,000 tons of urea, imported by Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) from international market, reaching Pakistan in the third week of this month. In January this year, the Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet had directed TCP to import 130,000 tons of urea from international market to avoid any shortage during Rabi season as domestic urea plants are unable to meet local demand due to gas curtailment.
Following the directives, the state run grain trader successfully awarded first urea import tender on April 24, 2013 to the lowest bidder M/s Helm Dungemittel, GMBH at a price of $374.73 per ton Cost and Freight (C&F) for import of 80,000 tons of urea. The tender was for the import of 130,000 tons with minimum bid quantity of 50,000 tons, however the lowest bidder''s offer was only for 80,000 tons.
At the same time, to comply with the decision of the ECC, a fresh tender for the balance quantity of 50,000 tons was issued by TCP to complete the total targeted quantity of 130,000 tons. The second urea import tender was opened on June 5, 2013 and accordingly awarded to the second lowest bidder M/s Trammo at $337.17 per ton for the supply of 50,000 tons.
As per schedule provided by M/s Trammo, a ship namely "MV Elenid" carrying about 53,000 tons of urea will reach Pakistan as on July 17-18, 2013 as presently urea is being loaded on the ship on a Chinese port. The successful bidder has already assured to supply complete quantity by this month. A quantity of 73,000 tons of urea has already been imported through first tender and with the arrival of this consignment, overall import will reach 123,000 tons against the targeted quantity of 130,000 tons.
Besides this import, TCP is already engaged in importing urea from Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) under the $100 million credit facility being provided by Saudi Fund for Development (SFD). Under this agreement, some four urea shipments have already been arrived, while overall some 220,000-240,000 tons of urea arrival is expected against 100 $million credit facility. Sources said TCP is only responsible for the import of urea, while the distribution, transportation and bagging of urea will be handled by National Fertiliser Marketing Limited (NFML) to ensure timely supply of urea to farmers during Rabi season.

Source: http://www.brecorder.com