CHINA slapped massive tariffs on fertilizer exports Thursday in a bid to control rapidly rising domestic agricultural costs and inflation, and above all to ensure it grows enough grain to feed its 1.3 billion people.

The government’s 100 percent-plus tariffs on some fertilizer exports should temper domestic costs but may drive up prices in world markets that depend on China’s supplies. This is the latest in a series of commodities-related protectionist moves around the world that risk fuelling rather than cooling global food costs.

China’s anxiety is greater than most — it is struggling to grow enough corn and wheat to feed its multiplying urban eaters, and fears higher costs of fertilizer, diesel and labor might discourage farmers from planting grain, thereby raising feed costs for meat breeders and exacerbating inflation.

China is in the peak season for fertilizer demand, since spring planting has been under way since March. Even so, sharply rising international fertilizer prices have caused exports to surge, the Ministry of Finance said Thursday.

“The overly fast export rise increased pressure for domestic fertilizer prices to rise, and also caused tight supply of certain fertilizers in some regions,” the ministry said on its Web site.

It said China had sufficient output of most fertilizers and could ensure domestic supply if exports were effectively controlled.

The tariffs on fertilizer exports will rise by 100 percentage points, to range from 100 percent to 135 percent, effective from yesterday to Sept. 30.

Exports of urea increased by 250 percent in the first two months from a year earlier to 1.71 million tons, while exports of monoammonium phosphate and diammonium phosphate rose by 280 percent and 130 percent, the ministry said.

Exporters are attracted by international prices that have risen by 128 percent in the year through March, and 62 percent in the last quarter alone.

The government often uses tariffs as a policy tool to dampen domestic prices and discourage exports of commodities ranging from metals to wheat flour. Tariffs are easier to administer than price controls or subsidies, and leave less room for corruption.

Planners do not want higher food prices to trigger urban unrest, but they are also mindful that farmers are finally seeing healthier returns after years of lagging rural incomes.

(SD-Agencies)