China Lowers Export Duty for Fertilizers      

China adjusts the rate and scope for some provisional and special taxes from December 1st, 2008.
   The export duty will be scrapped on 102 items, including chemical products like ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulfate which are now subject to a 150% special tax. Other items involved include steel products and grains.
   The export duty will be cut on 23 items including some fertilizer products and their raw materials, certain aluminum products and wheat. The way of levy on urea, monoammonium phosphate (MAP), diammonium phosphate (DAP) and other fertilizers will be adjusted in off-season.
   The special export duty on nitrogenous fertilizer and synthetic ammonia will be lowered to 75% in peak season from 150%. For other fertilizers and relevant raw materials beyond the above two will be cut to 75% in midseason from 150%.
   A guidance price will be set for urea, triple superphosphate, MAP and DAP from December 1st, 2008 to December 31st, 2009. The temporary export tax will be fixed at 35% in boom season. And in off-season, the levy will be 10% if export prices fall short of the guidance prices and it will be adjusted under certain formula if export prices exceed that benchmark prices.
   The guidance prices for urea, MAP, DAP and triple superphosphate are RMB2 300 per ton, RMB3 700 per ton, RMB4 000 per ton and RMB3 100 per ton respectively.
   According to the new rules, the midseason season for urea ranges from February to June and September 1st to November 15th in 2009, while its slow season covers December 2008, January, July to August and November 16th to December 31st in 2009; for triple superphosphate, the peak season ranges from February to May in 2009, while the low covers December 2008, January, June to December 2009; and the peak season for MAP and DAP is from February to May, August to October 2009 and their low covers December 2008, January, June to July, November to December 2009.
   The temporary duty on apatite and silicon is increased. New export tariffs is imposed on 15 items including natural barium sulfate (barites), magnesium oxide (excluding chemical pure), talc, brown corundum, cobalt oxide and fluorides etc.
   To ensure agricultural production and stabilize domestic fertilizer prices, China has adjusted export duties on fertilizers several times this year to control outbound shipments. After the latest tax adjustment, exports are expected to recover, which will help reduce the high-level domestic inventories of nitrogenous fertilizers and phosphate fertilizers, arrest the declining fertilizer prices and also help fertilizer producers through the adverse operating situation.