Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Imported fertiliser volume soaredin March, with China being the biggest supplier, according to preliminarystatistics from the General Department of Customs.

Last month, Vietnam imported about 429,000 tonnes of fertilisersworth 123 million USD, up 52.3% month-on-month in quantity and 35% in value.

The average import price was 287 USD per tonne, down 11.6% fromFebruary.

China was the leading supplier, with a total of nearly 175,000tonnes. This represented a significant growth of almost 44% in quantity, over55% in value and nearly 8% in price from the previous month.

In the first three months of 2024, the country imported over 1.12million tonnes of fertilisers, valued at nearly 352 million USD, with anaverage price of over 314 USD per tonne.

China remained the main importing market, accounting forapproximately 42% of the total volume and over 29% of the total import value.

Vietnam also imported fertilisers from other markets, includingRussia, Southeast Asia, and members of the Regional Comprehensive EconomicPartnership (RCEP) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement forTrans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Dr. Phung Ha, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of the VietnamFertiliser Association (FAV), said that Chinese fertilisers have consistentlybeen the most imported into Vietnam.

This is due to China's significant role as a major producer andexporter of fertilisers worldwide.

Currently, Vietnam faces a shortage or inability to domesticallyproduce certain types of fertilisers, Ha told plo.vn. For instance, in the case of DAP, domesticproduction capacity is only around 400,000 - 500,000 tonnes, whereas the demandexceeds 1 million tonnes, necessitating imports.

Regarding NPK fertilisers, Vietnam import those with high nutrientcontent while exporting those with lower nutrient content to neighbouringmarkets, Ha added.

According to the FAV Vice Chairman, the country’s fertilisersupply is not solely reliant on foreign markets.

Some fertilisers, like urea and superphosphate, are produced forboth domestic use and export.

The proportion of Vietnam’s fertiliser exports has beenincreasing, reaching 1.7 billion USD in 2022 due to restrictions on fertiliserexports by certain countries./.