Fertiliser stocks rally as much as 10%

Fertiliser stocks on Wednesday rallied by as much as over 10 per cent on BSE on hopes of decontrol of urea prices as a ministerial panel approved the policy proposal on freeing up prices for the key farm nutrient and which will now come up before the Cabinet for approval.

Shares of fertiliser companies attracted good buying support; Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals surged 10.41 per cent to close at Rs 102.90 a share on the BSE, National Fertilizers ended 8.93 per cent higher and Nagarjuna Fertilizers and Chemicals gained 8.76 per cent.

Coromandel Int gained 2.05 per cent at Rs 318 a piece.

The Group of Ministers on fertilisers last Friday approved a policy for decontrol of urea prices. Under the policy, manufacturers will be allowed to hike the rates for this nutrient by up to 10 per cent in the first year.

The maximum retail price (MRP) of urea stands at Rs 5,310 per tonne, which can go up by over Rs 500 if the Cabinet approves the draft policy.

Buoyed by the news, Shiva Global Agro Industries ended with 9.89 per cent gains while Zuari Industries closed 4.41 per cent up.

Meanwhile, the BSE barometer Sensex also snapped its 6-day losing streak and reclaimed the 17,000 mark by rising over 272 points to 17,130.51.