Exporting Spanish River Carbonatite
Transportation & Costs
Transportation logistics
Boreal Agrominerals will mine SRC and package into 1000kg, 20kg or 4.5kg for the company Spread-X to sell. Spread-X is located near Ottawa and about 460km from the port of Toronto costing approximately 75$ for the tote the fertilizer comes in and the km’s to deliver the produce (Spread-X, 2015). There is the possibility to buy smaller amounts but to be economical this cost projection will ship in 1000kg totes. The fertilizer will then be shipped by Maersk Line in 40ft shipping containers. The rates for shipping from North America to India are $630USD for the SBF price, extra charges that are unknown are terminal handling charges of loading and unloading, document charges and extra BAS charges as the amount of fertilizer and weight determine extra charges (Maersk Line, 2015). The fertilizer will be shipped to Calcutta port, India and where imports must go through to get to Nepal and taken by train to Katmandu where it can be distributed to communities or farmers that ordered the fertilizer (Maersk Line World Factbook)
A company in Nepal already selling fertilizers could be potential importer of SRC and could group along with other fertilizers and goods already coming from Canada but the costs are unknown at the moment as demand of the product will be the main factor in transportation costs
If the company in Boreal Agrominerals or Spread-X sells directly to the farmers in Nepal, there will have to be a website or brochure available to Nepalese farmer they are willing to use.
Cost analysis
The table below shows the prices for sustainable fertilizers and soil amendments like SRC. The cost of buying directly from Spread-X is $120.00/1000kg, $34.95/20kg and $17.99/4.5kg bag. Traditional agricultural limestone is haft the price of SRC but does not have phosphorus, potassium or micronutrients. The micronutrients listed at the bottom are essential to good productivity of soils but very expensive when sold separately (Spread-X, 2015., Kabaya-Pendias, 2010).
DRY Fertilizers & SOIL AMENDMENTS
Format
Price
other format
Calphos 20P - 20Ca
50lb
$18.39
Certified Dolomitic Lime 28Ca – 16Mg
1000kg
$34.00
Corn gluten meal (not organic) 9-0-0
9.1kg
$19.00
Organic extruded soybean meal 7-2-1 48% protein
25kg
$42.95
Organic Flax meal 6-1-1
25kg
$33.95
Earth Alive – Soil Activator BioStimulant
25kg
$329.95
$39.95/4kg
Greensand 20 K
50lb
$32.95
Gypsum 17Ca - 22S
50lb
$12.20
Limestone Calcitic 34Ca
1000kg
$65.00
$13.50/25kg
15.00/MT bulk
Limestone Dolomitic 22Ca – 11Mg
1000kg
$65.00
$18.50/25kg
20.00/MT bulk
Magnesium oxide 55MgO
25kg
$41.00
Magnesium Sulfate/Powder 9.8Mg - 12S
60lb
$39.00
Spanish River Carbonatite 0.1-3.2-1.5 19 Ca
1000kg
$120.00
$34.95/20kg
$17.99/4.5kg
Sulphate of Potash 50S - 17P
1000kg
$1,300.00
Sulphur S90%
1000kg
$918.00
Sul-Po-Mag (K-Mag) 22K - 11Mg - 22S
1000kg
$1,100.00
Wollastonite 5.12Mg, 19.8Ca,1.88K
1000kg
$100.00
Micro nutrients:
Boron Granular 15%
0.5kg
$1.45
Cobalt Sulphate 22% C 20% S
50lb
$1,123.50
Manganese sulphate
26-28Mn
50lb
$39.00
Copper sulphate
35%
25kg
$192.50
Ferous sulphate
pH reducer
25kg
$30.00
Zinc oxide
72%
50lb
$187.00
zinc sulphate
35%
50lb
$80.00
Table from Spread X Spring prices 2015
Transportation + product cost
Cost $
1000kg of SRC - $120
Shipping - $630 (+unknowns)
Land Transport - $75
Total Approx. = $825
The approximate cost of Spanish River Carbonite to Nepal is $825 with the acknowledgment of unknown factors in price of shipping and transport.
According to a report done by the FAO the average annual house hold income for rural families in Nepal is 30 980 Nepalese rupees which equal approximately $311 USD (Maltsoglou and Taniguchi, 2004., WFB, 2014) Therefore SRC may not suite a household in rural Nepal but a community that could buy into a cooperative with multiple villages. As shown above the cost of SRC is high for individuals without subsidies and government aid. It has been over 30 years since an in-depth look at the use and economics of fertilizers in Nepal and the government when looking at the 70% employment in agriculture should subside or incentives the largest industry in Nepal. (Joshy and Deo, 1976) Over 60% of the population lives in the hill and mountain regions that use only 25% of the imported fertilizers in Nepal (Maltsoglou and Taniguchi, 2004., Sherchan and Karki, 2007) Government involvement in the distribution of fertilizer in the hill and mountain region could greatly increase the production.
In the future Boreal Agrominerals is looking to sell a 1kg bag for under $10, this may be the perfect size to export the Nepalese farms as it would be affordable (Fanczyk, 2014).There is the potential for lowering costs through buying directly from the quarry in Sudbury as growers in Ontario can buy it for $55 a tonne when buying in bulk (Franczyk, 2014) A company from Nepal or a NGO could provide the packaging or containers needed to ship loose SRC to Nepal and package it in country creating job possibilities in the Nepal.