Despite its adverse financial conditions, public sector FACT has surpassed the production and sales targets for Factamfos for two consecutive quarters in FY16.
Factamfos production for the July-September quarter was 1.96 lakh tonnes against the target of 1.95 lakh tonnes. FACT achieved sales of 2.09 lakh tonnes against the target of 1.95 lakh tonnes, bringing down the field stock to a low of about 20,500 tonnes.
Considering its half-yearly performance, the company achieved production of 3.30 lakh tonnes (compared to last year’s figure of 2.70 lakh tonnes) against a target of 3.10 lakh tonnes, and sales of 3.49 lakh tonnes (compared to last year’s figure of 3.05 lakh tonnes).
Factamfos production in the six-month period is a record for the last five years and the sales numbers the highest in the last nine years.
Ammonium Sulphate, the second major fertiliser from FACT, also performed well with half-yearly production touching 52,544 tonnes against the previous year’s figure of 44,274 tonnes. Sales were at 58,847 tonnes compared to 48,898 tonnes in the last year.
For the first time in the history of FACT, bio-fertiliser production has surpassed 100 tonnes in the first half-year, setting a production and sales record.
Meanwhile, the company has floated tenders to import 15,000 tonnes of ammonia, which is the main raw material required for the production of Factamfos and Ammonium Sulphate. The acute shortage of working capital has forced the company to stop procuring LNG and go in for ammonia imports to meet production requirements.
“We are exploring all possibilities for purchasing LNG from the nearby Petronet LNG Terminal to make use of parity in dollar pricing in the global market,” a senior company official told BusinessLine .
On the Government’s decision to reduce natural gas prices, he said it would be beneficial for pool gas (comprising both domestic and imported) which is available only in North India. However, the newly announced gas price is not applicable to FACT since the gas supplied by Petronet LNG Ltd is based on spot price and is comparatively higher, he said.