Urea prices ease in India tender; Govt may secure 2 mt at $462–470/tonne

India, which produced 30.7 mt of urea and imported 5.6 mt in 2024–25, faces tightening supply as closing stock fell 60% year-on-year to 2.76 mt in August. Rising demand from paddy and maize cultivation has further pressured availability, making timely imports crucial.

Aditya Birla Global Trading (formerly Swiss Singapore) has emerged as the lowest bidder in India’s latest Urea import tender for 2 million tonnes (mt). As the origin of supply has been kept open and China has also been included as a sourcing country, it will be clear only when vessels are loaded whether China has relaxed its ban on urea for supply to India.

ABG Trading, the second-largest supplier of urea in India after Ameropa, has quoted $462.45/tonne (CFR) for 0.3 mt delivery on the east coast and an additional 0.3 mt at $464.70/tonne on the west coast, according to a trader who participated in the bidding.

Now that other bidders will be asked to match L1 (ABG Trading) price, the government may get to buy the entire 2 mt in the range of $462-470 a tonne, sources said. However, the highest bid price was $ 490/tonne, which shows the high volatility in Urea prices, the trade sources said.

China seen partially relaxing urea export ban

The government is believed to have agreed to buy 2 million tonnes (mt) of urea at an average $530/tonne in the tender opened in the first week of August. Urea import, which is completely controlled by the government and executed through public sector RCF, NFL, as well as IPL, has become a key concern this year after China banned its export in 2023.

“The fall in Urea price is mainly due to China’s decision to relax some quantity for export. However, it is still not clear how much fertiliser out of this 2 mt will be sourced from China. The suppliers have kept China option open along with other countries,” the trader said adding about 0.7-0.8 mt of urea can originate from China in the current round.

NFL floats fresh tender amid supply concerns

After the IPL tender, National Fertilizers (NFL) floated a tender on August 15 to import 2 mt of urea, also on government account, amid reports of China easing export restrictions for India. According to the NFL tender, the government wanted delivery of 1 mt on the East Coast and another 1 mt on the West Coast.

Government data compiled by the fertiliser ministry shows that the average Urea (FOB) rate in June was $ 395/tonne, which is 15 per cent higher than the year-ago period. Following the government’s decision to increase urea imports, despite long queues of farmers and black marketing, international prices had risen.

Domestic production 30.7 mt; imports 5.6 mt in FY25

In 2024-25, India’s domestic production of urea was 30.7 million tonnes (mt) and import was 5.6 mt. Only due to a good carry-forward stock from the previous year, the government was able to manage the 38.79 mt of consumption.

Closing stock of urea on August 22 was 2.76 mt, which is over 60 per cent lower than 6.96 mt a year ago. Official sources attribute the dip in Urea stock to higher demand, as against a 12.7 per cent drop in imports and a 10.2 per cent fall in production during the April-June period of the current fiscal year from the year-ago period.

Higher paddy, maize acreage boosts urea demand

Due to a shift of choice by farmers towards paddy and maize, which consume more urea than oilseeds, tur and cotton, there has been a huge increase in demand for the nitrogen fertiliser. The paddy acreage has risen to 431.96 lakh hectare (lh) until August 29 in the current season from 405.34 lh a year ago, which is 6.6 per cent higher. Similarly, the maize area has also increased by 11.8 per cent to 94 lakh hectares from 84.07 lakh hectares.

Published on September 5, 2025

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