Fertilizer prices will be maintained until the Dom Rep importers’ report is analyzed.

Companies will provide Agriculture with an assessment of current costs in the market
Santo Domingo – Apr. 26, 2023

The Minister of Dominican Republic Agriculture, Limber Cruz, confirmed today to Diario Libre that fertilizer prices will continue even after April 30, until importing companies deliver to the Ministry an evaluation of current prices in the market.

“We agreed that I wasn’t going to see a price increase. They are making an evaluation, which they are going to give to me, because, even, though we could have priced a little lower, I still do not have what percentage or what level of prices they are going to have because they are doing the calculations, and they decided to bring them to me, “said Cruz.

The minister did not specify whether or not this negotiation will be carried out within the framework of the subsidy program, which has been in force since November 2021 and which would end on April 30.

However, the agricultural portfolio intends that prices do not increase, as confirmed to this media by the general manager of Abodom, José Ramón Peralta Abreu, who participated in yesterday’s meeting.

“A new analysis of international prices is going to be made because they are not the same as two years ago, but the government’s approach is that prices do not rise and remain stable,” he explained, after detailing that after that conclusion, it will be derived whether or not there will be more subsidy, he said.

Diario Libre tried to get a position from Fertilizantes Santo Domingo (Fersán) regarding the meeting with the minister. However, the company avoided giving details in this regard and adhered to the statement released last Sunday, April 23.

The statement, also attributed to Dominican Chemical Fertilizers (Ferquido) and Dominican Fertilizers (Abodom), highlights the importance of the program to alleviate the cost of production of farmers but emphasizes its completion on April 30 of this month.

The note indicates that from November 2021 until this month, the government has allocated 4,914.4 million pesos, for an average of 739 pesos per quintal of fertilizer.

During this year and five months, the government has subsidized some 44 different types of fertilizers, agreeing with the fertilizer companies a ceiling price for the sale of each of the products.

Fertilizer prices
In the case of Fersán, the company detailed in a document shared with this medium the maximum price of the quintal that three fertilizers maintained, used as a reference for their wide use in the field: those of NPK fertilizer 15 ($41.50), ammonium sulfate ($26.90) and urea ($41.05).

However, the importer details that, as of March of this year, NPK fertilizer 15 has had a cost of $ 35.28, ammonium sulfate has been sold at $ 22.87 and urea at $ 35.74.

This shows a difference ranging from $4 to $6 less than the estimated price cap in the subsidy program.

This is due to the decline that these three products have presented in international markets, a reduction “that has maintained its trend,” said Fersán.