The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) recently issued Management Methods on Commercial Reserves of Fertilizers (Exposure Draft). While stabilizing supply and prices of fertilizers during spring ploughing period, the document mainly aims to satisfy domestic demand for potash fertilizers and meet urgent need after a natural disaster (e.g. typhoon and flood). 

Covering varieties of nitrogen, phosphate, potash and compound fertilizers, fertilizer commercial reserves – following a basic principle featuring company reserves, bank loans, governmental subsidies, market operation, being responsible for own profits and losses – are divided into three parts: 

* potash fertilizers, reserved during the whole year and mainly for areas with convenient transportation, grain and cotton production areas, etc.

Reserve scale will increase to a certain level with that of the other two parts decreasing, and then will remain stable. Imported fertilizers will account for at least 80%.

* fertilizers supplied to areas suffering disasters (reserved during May-October, choosing domestic fertilizers, and mainly for disaster-prone areas, major grain production areas, etc.)

Reserve scale will be adjusted according to latest changes in application amount of agricultural fertilizers the National Bureau of Statistics issues, fertilizer production, import and export (applying equally to fertilizers prepared for spring ploughing).

* fertilizers prepared for spring ploughing (adopting domestic fertilizers and reserved during six consecutive months chosen from September current year to April next year)

Urea will account for at least 40% of local reserves in 13 main grain production areas such as Heilongjiang.