KATHMANDU - China remains the largest supplier of chemical fertilizers to Nepal in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year, the central bank of Nepal said.

The Himalayan country's import from India, traditionally its biggest supplier, has been decreasing in recent years, according to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB).

The bank's data have shown that Nepal imported chemical fertilizers worth $120 million during the first 10 months of the current fiscal year 2015-16, which ends in mid-July.

Although Indian fertilizers had a predominant presence in Nepal's fertilizer market until fiscal year 2013-14, China has emerged as the largest supplier in fiscal year 2014-15 and moved on to remain the largest supplier as of the first 10 months of the current fiscal year too, NRB said. Nepal's import of fertilizers from China has been on the rise since fiscal year 2012-13.

Nepal does not produce chemical fertilizers and imports all the required fertilizers from abroad. Beside formal import, a significant part of the country's demand for fertilizers is fulfilled by smuggling from India through porous border between the two countries.

Nepal's annual demand for fertilizers is over 700,000 tons. Formally imported fertilizers fulfill around 30 percent of the total fertilizer needs of the country, according to the Ministry of Agriculture Development.