Price of fertilizer next to rise
Ban on export of commodity inputs urged
By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 07:26:00 04/21/2008
Filed Under: rice problem, Agriculture, Food, Crisis, Fertilisers
MANILA, Philippines—A looming fertilizer crisis is compounding the country’s hope of stabilizing the supply and price of rice and other food products.
After China jacked up export levies on fertilizer by more than 100 percent last week, senators called on Malacañang to move quickly and impose an export ban on fertilizer inputs, specifically sulfuric acid and sulfur.
All countries are now scrambling to stock up on this commodity to deal with the food crisis worldwide.
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had been informed of the looming crisis in fertilizer, a key ingredient in the government’s program to achieve rice self-sufficiency, and was considering the proposal of legislators to impose an export ban.
Yap confirmed that China, which supplies 20 percent of all inorganic fertilizer used in the country, increased its export levies on the important agricultural input.
Yap said China’s move should compel the Philippine to act to protect its own interest.
“All countries are thinking of their own food security and are taking steps to ensure that they have enough tools for production at their disposal. I believe we should also think about our own interests,” said Yap.
“I strongly urge government to take steps to solve the problem by banning the export of fertilizer components, especially to China, which in return exports it back to us as expensive fertilizer,” said Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri in a phone interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net).
Aside from banning sulfur exports, Zubiri urged the government to push the use of organic fertilizer to cushion the impact of the higher costs of artificial inputs.
Palawan Rep. Abraham Mitra had earlier called on Malacañang to suspend the export of sulfur for at least six months to ensure an adequate fertilizer supply for local farmers during the rice planting season through August.
High fertilizer prices will set back government hopes of boosting the basic staple’s supply and reining in prices.
The export ban proposal, however, is meeting with objection from the country’s biggest producer of sulfuric acid – Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corp. (Pasar).
Sulfur is a byproduct of the precious metal smelting process.
Pasar has reportedly threatened to close shop if the government adopts an export ban on sulfur, claiming that overseas sales of the by-product has helped offset the high cost of its smelting operations.
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