March 13 -- Vietnam is estimated to import some 900,000 tons of urea this year, up 27.1 percent over last year, according to a local agriculture agency on Tuesday.

The country's demand for urea is estimated at about 1.8 million tons, half of which can be met by domestic supplies, said the Agriculture Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Vietnam imported 471,000 tons of fertilizers of different kinds totaling 97 million U.S. dollars in the first two months of this year, posting respective year-on-year increases of 37.9 percent and 36.6 percent.

The country spent 17 million dollars importing 68,000 tons of urea, mainly from China, Indonesia, Russia and the Middle East, between January and February, down 36.4 percent and 37.8 percent, respectively, according to the Vietnamese General Statistics Office.

Vietnam's total demand for fertilizers in 2007 is estimated at nearly 7.9 million tons, and domestic supplies are likely to stand at 4.7 million tons, according to the country's Trade Ministry.

Vietnam imported over 3 million tons of fertilizers, including 708,000 tons of urea, totaling 673 million dollars last year, up 5. 9 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively, against the year earlier, said the statistics office.

The country, home to over 150 fertilizer producers with each annual capacity ranging from 500 tons to one million tons, has planned to build four major fertilizer plants with a combined annual capacity of nearly 1.8 million tons in the 2005-2010 period, according to the Vietnam Fertilizer Association.