Port of Vizag bans bulk ammonium nitrate imports

The Port of Visakhapatnam has banned the bulk import of ammonium nitrate from today, as the chemical is very commonly used by terror outfits in making bombs.

"Usually, there is no monitoring mechanism in place to check the movement of such sensitive material, that too, in bulk quantities. We have now made it mandatory that all imports of ammonium nitrate will have to be made in properly sealed bags, which can be easily tracked and safely handled. That will make it safer to handle and also easier to monitor these imports," said Ajeya Kallam, chairman, Vishakhapatnam Port Trust.

On an average, the Vizag port handles between 100,000 and 200,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate annually. The total cargo it handles is around 68 million tonnes per annum.

While India imported 342,265 tonnes of raw ammonium nitrate in 2011-12, it is expected to touch 350,000 tonnes this financial year. The total production of the chemical in India is around 700,000 tonnes. Most of the ammonium nitrate exported to India is from Russia and South Africa, to companies based in Nagpur.

The main uses of the chemical include construction for blasting. "Mining-related explosive manufacturers are the major consumers of ammonium nitrate in India. The total size of the industry is around Rs 1,200 crore, while imports contribute half of it," an industry official told Business Standard.

However, it is the use of the substance by terrorists that has caused security and intelligence agencies to view its imports with concern. The chemical has been used by terror outfits in almost all the recent blasts in India. "The Zaveri Bazaar blast in Mumbai in 2011 used just one kilogram of ammonium nitrate," said Jayant Umranikar, former director general of police, Pune.

Much of the concern is due to the fact that one per cent of the total ammonium nitrate imported in India is lost in transit due to leakages and goes unaccounted. "There is around one percent of the total imports - 3,000 tonnes lying around unaccounted for. Unless there is a complete control over the imports, this threat will always remain," Umranikar said.

The Ammonium Nitrate (AN) Rules, formulated last year, will come into effect from July 2013. While enough checks and balances have been kept for domestic producers of the chemical, the importers have not been asked to meet any norm compulsorily. "According to the AN Rules, imports of the chemical can be done 'preferably' in package format, while for us, it is compulsory," said an official from one of the largest producers of ammonium nitrate in India.

And in spite of the Visakhapatnam Port Trust's tightening the controls on the import of ammonium nitrate, one can still import ammonium nitrate in bulk form at other ports such as Kandla in Gujarat and Haldia in West Bengal .

Kallam, however, said that a port is just a facilitator in the logistics chain and is not responsible for where the cargo ends up ultimately.