Well said yellowcake.If posters were to look at a chart for...

Well said yellowcake.

If posters were to look at a chart for India's fertilizer consumption since 1961. One will notice a super trend. That trend being 'up' in direct relationship with increasing population growth.

India is one of the main fertilizer consuming countries in the World. We have witness India facing rapid population growth leeching on limited reserves of good agricultural land, where improving crop productivity and nitrogen use efficiency is a huge challenge for India.

There is a need to increase food production to meet the requirements of a large and fast growing population where agriculture land is limited, incomes is rising and there is a need to improve productivity per hectare. The need to improve arable land productivity is achieved by the increase use of fertilizer, evident by a 42% rise in fertilizer per hectare during 2002 to 2007 from 100.64 to 142.28 per hectare of arable land in India.

Personal experience dealing in the farming business, I know that having adequate fertilizers such as Phosphate and not chemicals etc. Will aid in the long term sustainability (choosing the right seeds & natural fertilizer like phosphate benefit the environment and enrich the soil LT) and productivity of better crop yields. In addition, emerging markets have huge room for improvement in increasing crop productivity and efficient fertilizer usage. For example, rice crops in Australia can produce from memory up to 10-11+ t/h wherelse crops in Indonesia will only yield 5-6 t/h.

Back to topic. NMDC, a State Owned company signing a MOU with MAK. This is really big stuff. This is serious boys. I read NMDC investment plays being strategic in securing resources for the future interest of their country (playing catch up with China!). For example, NMDC recent investment of $800m into iron ore mines was base on the circumstance to meet captive consumption by its own steel mills in India.

Now, talk about Phosphate, India needs it badly. A nett importer, and their biggest supplier China is slowly shutting their doors needing the strategic resource for themselves!

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Reference:

http://www.indexmundi.com/facts/india/fertilizer-consumption

http://www.miningweekly.com/article/indias-nmdc-invests-800m-to-boost-iron-ore-output-to-50mty-2011-06-07