Fiji’s fertilizer supplier which supports the country’s local farmers and regional food security is monitoring the escalating crisis in the Middle East and will mitigate challenges if the war continues.
The South Pacific Fertilizers (SPF) will determine what steps it will need to take to mitigate the price of the fertilizer if the war continues beyond 2026.
In an interview with the newspaper, SPF chief financial officer Kaushik Maharaj said at the moment, it was too early for the company to comment on what their plans were because they had not reached the “bigger line yet”.
“If the prices of the fertilizers increases, then we’ll have to see. For example, the sugar industry, we’ll have to see how the ministry comes in,” Mr Maharaj said.
“And because we have not reached that juncture where we can say that there will be an increase.
“Since we have got ample stocks and currently, we don’t know which route the war will take.”
He said if the company reached that stage, it would first need to be discussed with the board to determine their say on the issue.
“And once the board decides, then the next due course of action will be taken because we are guided by the board.”
Mr Maharaj said they had a board in place and in that regard, the board would give directions on what to do.
SPF currently sources fertilizer from Southeast Asia, China, Europe, Middle East, and other global producing countries that produce mineral-based fertilizer.
Meanwhile, Sugarcane Growers Council chief executive officer Vimal Dutt said since the fertilizer was subsidised by the Government, and if the prices of fertilizer increased, the Government subsidy would also increase.
He said this should not affect the farmers because of the subsidy incentive in place.
