Indian urea inventories stood at 7.1mn t as of the start of December, with the country's stocks increasing by a net 260,000t in November.
Stocks have recovered and are largely in line with 2024 levels, with urea inventories at about 7.3mn t at the start of December last year.
Solid domestic production of 2.62mn t combined with imports of 1.39mn t to outstrip strong local sales of 3.75mn t, the latest provisional data show.
Sales of 3.75mn t, if confirmed, would be the second-highest on record for November, up from 3.58mn t in the same month last year. Urea imports have continued to flow strongly into India, with the country's suppliers buying 7.8mn t of urea under six tenders in June-November.
The provisional data also show that Indian urea production is holding at the rate set in October, at about 2.6mn t, and levels are generally recovering to rates previously seen in the 2024-25 fertilizer year, having averaged 2.4mn t/month in April-September this year.
India's urea inventories have increased by a net 1.34mn t since April, fuelled by a series of six import tenders in as many months, as the country has sought to push stocks up from as low as 3.5mn t at the end of August (see chart). Continued import demand from India was the key driver underpinning elevated international urea prices through the second half of the year.
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