Govt to lift urea export ban

JAKARTA (JP): The government plans to lift the ban on urea fertilizer exports in the near future to allow producers to benefit from higher prices on the international market, according to Minister of Agriculture Soleh Solahuddin.

"In the near future, the ban (on urea fertilizer exports) will be lifted, but I don't know exactly when," Soleh was quoted as saying by Antara news agency on Monday.

Soleh said that he hoped farmers here would switch to other types of fertilizer so that repeal of the export ban would not affect domestic agricultural production.

Indonesia produces approximately six million tons of urea fertilizer a year and has an annual domestic consumption of 4.5 million tons.

Excess production was exported up until two months ago, when the government closed the trade.

Producers, most of whom are state-owned fertilizer companies, have complained that the ban prevented them from benefiting from higher overseas prices.

Soleh said the price of urea on the international market is 200 percent higher than it is on the domestic market. (29)