Overview

The fertilizer industry has seen dramatic changes in market dynamics, with challenges posed by policy and regulatory changes, political instability, conflicts and new macroeconomic realities. The drive towards energy transition and ambitious zero-carbon goals has also opened up the industry to new entrants and new opportunities.

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Latest fertilizer news

Browse the latest market moving news on the global fertilizer industry.

Latest fertilizer news
11/02/25

Vessel nominations roll in for RCF urea tender

Vessel nominations roll in for RCF urea tender

Amsterdam, 11 February (Argus) — Vessel nominations in Indian importer RCF's 23 January tender to buy urea have emerged, with 11 out of 12 shipments nominated. Four vessels will load from the Middle East, two from Nigeria, two from Indonesia, at least two — and probably three — from Russia and one cargo of probably re-exported material from Yantai in China ( see table ). The 11 vessels nominated are set to load this month. Quest is the one supplier still to nominate a vessel, but this will probably load in Russia. Vessels are to load by 5 March, as per RCF's request. There will be nine shipments for a combined 411,500t to the east coast and 147,400t in three lots to the west coast, totalling 558,900t. Indagro made the lowest offer at $422/t cfr west coast and $427/t cfr east coast. RCF had sought up to 1.5mn t of urea and market participants are awaiting the next tender from India to bridge the shortfall, which is expected in the next 1-2 weeks. By Harry Minihan RCF 23 Jan urea tender vessels Supplier Tonnage t Prilled/granular urea Origin Destination port West coast Indagro 45,000 Granular UAE Mundra Ameropa 52,400 Granular Sohar, Oman Deendayal Quest 50,000 Russia TBC Rozy East coast Indagro 45,000 Granular Onne, Nigeria Kakinada Midgulf 45,000 Granular Indonesia Krishnapatnam Midgulf 31,500 Granular Lekki, Nigeria Krishnapatnam OQ 45,000 Granular China Kakinada Sun International 50,000 Prilled Qatar Paradip Liven 47,500 Granular Indonesia Vizag Fertistream 45,000 Prilled Tuapse, Russia Gangavaram Aditya Birla 52,500 Granular Sohar, Oman Dhamra Aditya Birla 50,000 Prilled Ust Luga, Russia Karaikal Total 558,900 — market sources Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Latest fertilizer news

Rain shuts Australian copper, fertilizer rail line


11/02/25
Latest fertilizer news
11/02/25

Rain shuts Australian copper, fertilizer rail line

Sydney, 11 February (Argus) — Torrential rains have shut Australia's Mount Isa rail line, which links phosphate and copper mines to the Port of Townsville in Queensland, with no reopening timeline in place. "The North Coast and Mount Isa rail lines have suffered severe damage with approximately 177 defects found so far," rail operator Queensland Rail (QR) said on 10 February. But the company has not yet examined parts of the line because of safety concerns, QR told Argus , preventing it from coming up with a reopening plan. Mining firm Glencore's Mount Isa copper and Australian manufacturer Incitec Pivot's Phosphate Hill fertilizer mines use the line to move commodities from production sites to the Port of Townsville, for export or distribution to other parts of Australia. Australian mining firm Centrex also uses the line to ship phosphate rock from its Ardmore phosphate project. Wet weather forced the Port of Abbot Point, located just south of Townsville, to close from 31 January to 5 February . The Port of Townsville remained open throughout that period, despite large parts of the city flooding. Incitec Pivot's Phosphate Hill plant is also currently facing non-weather-related challenges. The company lowered the mine's forecast production by 7pc to 740,000-800,000t for the 2025 financial year to 30 June, because of gas supply challenges. Argus ' MAP/DAP fob Townsville price was last assessed at $620-640/t on 6 February. By Avinash Govind and Tom Woodlock Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Latest fertilizer news

Indonesian, Malaysian MOP, NPK imports rise in 2024


10/02/25
Latest fertilizer news
10/02/25

Indonesian, Malaysian MOP, NPK imports rise in 2024

Singapore, 10 February (Argus) — A global palm oil rally in 2024 improved affordability for Indonesian and Malaysian plantations, pushing up MOP and NPK imports in the countries to three-year highs in 2024. Indonesia's MOP imports rose by about 44pc on the year to 3.44mn t, with increased deliveries from its key suppliers, according to the latest GTT data. Arrivals from Canada doubled to 1.26mn t from a year earlier. Imports from Russia and Belarus also increased to 1.2mn t and 245,000t, up by 42pc and 69pc respectively from a year earlier. Arrivals from Uzbekistan, likely representing product from Belarus, accounted for 406,500t, up by 23pc on the year. NPK deliveries to Indonesia hit 370,800t in 2024, up by 6pc from a year earlier. Around 177,000t of the total imports were sourced from Russia, with 93,000t from Norway. Malaysian MOP imports totalled 1.64mn t in 2024, close to a 20pc increase from 2023. Deliveries from its top supplier Russia reached a record high of 852,000t, up by about 56pc on the year. Arrivals from Canada were flat at 381,000t but imports from the US — which also represents Canadian product shipped from a US port — quadrupled to a 20-year high of 142,200t. The increase in deliveries from the US can be attributed to Canpotex's terminal in Portland, Oregon, resuming potash loadings at the start of 2024 after operations were halted in May 2023. Malaysia's NPK imports rose by about 25pc to 166,500t in 2024, with significant rises in deliveries from its key exporting partners. Arrivals from China rose to 42,000t, up by nearly 35pc from a year earlier, while deliveries from the Netherlands nearly doubled to 28,200t. Palm oil output in Indonesia, the world's top producer, is forecast to grow by nearly 2pc in 2025, according to a Reuters poll, in order to meet the growing demand for palm oil-based biodiesel with a planned increase in the mandatory mix of palm oil in biodiesel in the country in February. This is expected to boost demand for MOP and complex fertilizers, which should continue to support affordability in 2025. The increase in the Indonesian biodiesel mandate is also likely to limit exports from the world's top producer and push Malaysian crude palm oil prices higher in 2025, after hitting a two-year high in 2024. Malaysia is the world's second largest palm oil producer. But adverse weather, persistent labour shortages and low replanting rates may limit production in 2025, officials said. By Camila Tay Malaysian MOP imports 2024 (t) Russia Canada United States Jordan Others YTD January 45,001 59,090 27,500 4,705 4,845 141,141 February 40,000 40,596 5,724 11,000 3,672 100,992 March 67,946 27,495 16,000 2,462 6,603 120,506 April 51,889 47,776 0 2,986 6,629 109,280 May 37,804 38,000 17,018 21,208 38,649 152,679 June 47,913 21,501 17,018 13,898 22,216 122,546 July 100,586 21,979 0 2,007 3,570 128,142 August 65,989 54,048 27,977 4,461 4,781 157,256 September 90,780 15,987 0 6,316 4,285 117,368 October 175,642 21,906 30,890 29,667 12,258 270,363 November 56,476 38 68 3,005 9,273 68,860 December 71,965 33,001 0 23,825 26,596 155,387 Total 851,991 381,417 142,195 125,540 143,377 1,644,520 Source: GTT Indonesian MOP imports 2024 (t) Canada Russia Belarus Laos Others YTD January 143,565 26,000 44,100 12,455 66,458 292,578 February 85,968 85,577 27,508 9,930 60,391 269,374 March 201,828 84,798 0 26,899 43,532 357,057 April 76,856 115,897 10,000 12,203 52,943 267,899 May 119,413 109,895 32,276 25,291 37,142 324,017 June 110,924 77,980 7,995 13,846 2,655 213,400 July 193,302 189,443 0 16,008 2,151 400,904 August 139,323 98,408 19,676 34,092 105,874 397,373 September 0 91,673 40,739 4,201 36,175 172,788 October 46,427 120,395 16,700 17,658 53,071 254,251 November 43,974 66,189 16,480 5,216 49,088 180,947 December 96,907 132,418 29,453 9,989 41,237 310,004 Total 1,258,487 1,198,673 244,927 187,788 550,717 3,440,592 Source: GTT Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Latest fertilizer news

Q&A: Norway’s Scatec targets rare H2 demand ‘pockets’


04/02/25
Latest fertilizer news
04/02/25

Q&A: Norway’s Scatec targets rare H2 demand ‘pockets’

London, 4 February (Argus) — Norwegian renewables developer Scatec is pursuing opportunities in hydrogen production, particularly in the Middle East. The firm in 2023 quit a joint venture in Oman, but is progressing in Egypt and has secured an offtaker in Germany's state-backed H2Global auction initiative. Chief executive Terje Pilskog shared his views on the state of the hydrogen industry in the Middle East and the company's approach to near-term challenges. Edited highlights follow: Has the outlook for renewable hydrogen shifted in the past 12-18 months? There is more realism about the industry's growth rate, but the fundamentals haven't changed — green hydrogen is still important for decarbonising several industries. But clearly the pace is slower than expected and we must recognise there was some hype. In the end, securing offtake drives projects forward. Demand is moving significantly slower than what was assumed a couple of years ago. Delivery time for the first H2Global project is late 2027, and for larger projects towards 2030 is more realistic. Why did Scatec exit Oman, which others consider the place to be? Oman has the key requirements for producing green hydrogen and ammonia competitively, and its government has enabled development. But not much can happen, as most companies won't take final investment decisions (FIDs) without offtake deals. There's a lot of support from the authorities, but massive greenfield projects are complicated, with infrastructure for hydrogen, ammonia and shipping needed. When we pulled out of the project we were involved in, it was because we didn't see the demand coming. And we didn't feel comfortable with the timelines relative to when we expected to see demand coming in. Why did Scatec advance its project in Egypt? We've been in Egypt a long time and we are familiar with the country and the regulation. Egypt has mostly the same fundamentals as Oman, like available land and great renewable resources — even better wind conditions. Egypt is nicely located if green ammonia is used as marine fuel and because it is near Europe as an offtaker. The good thing about Egypt is its existing ammonia industry, with 3-4 large facilities. Our logic was that — because demand was coming slowly — in Egypt we could build incrementally at a scale that is possible to secure offtake. And the required investment would be lower because the ammonia export facility already has storage and port infrastructure. To be completely greenfield, you must target 700,000-1mn t/yr of green ammonia to be cost-competitive. Our joint project with Fertiglobe is for 70,000-75,000 t/yr — relatively small compared with the volumes people have talked about, but still of a size where it's possible to get offtake. The project secured an award from the H2Global tender last year, so now we are completing the FEED and financing, and we plan to reach FID in the first half of 2025. The capital costs are $0.5bn — not as much as everybody dreamed, but still sizeable. We are building 300MW of renewables and 100MW of electrolysis, so it's still going to be among the largest projects in 2027-28. What are Scatec's priorities over the next 12-24 months? We are developing a similar project at Damietta on the north coast of Egypt with Mopco and Echem that is 2-2.5 times larger. We have signed heads of terms with Yara and we aim to conclude the deal over the next 6-12 months so the project can move forward. We have focused very narrowly over the past two years to ensure these two projects succeed. We have been asked by countries to start development. It's the usual suspects, especially in north Africa. You have fundamentals for green hydrogen in Morocco, in Tunisia — countries that we know. Those are candidates. But my perspective is that the train, on a global basis, is not leaving the station. If we get to the FID stage on the first two projects, with the competence we are building we're going to have other opportunities. That does not mean that we wait until 2027 to do anything else, but it's clear what our first, second and third priorities are at this time. Do you like the land allocation model of countries such as Oman and Morocco? Each country has its own approach. From a developer's point of view, auctioning land is a bit challenging, as it adds costs, especially if you pay up-front. You might take two years before FID and a lot can happen in two years, so it's challenging to take on that exposure up-front. But it sets a certain standard in terms of who can participate, and if you want to attract the big guys, those are the ones that have the capability to go for that kind of opportunity. These are big projects, so it's important to screen a bit. But from my point of view, the key thing is creating the optimal framework for projects in your country. That's about making sure infrastructure is in place, things move quickly and projects are cost-competitive. It is a competition, as everybody in this region wants to become a green hydrogen hub. What H2 infrastructure should the Middle East region prioritise? Port facilities — storage and loading. It can be bunkering facilities, if you believe it could be a significant fuel for the marine industry. Enabling production near ports is important. The other factor is electricity infrastructure. Our project in Egypt needs grid availability, but others operate in ‘island mode'. Many countries in the region need more renewable energy, and you can end up with hydrogen facilities competing with other initiatives. So thinking through how to provide stable renewable electricity is important. Investors need plans to be clear, predictable and actually implemented. Our experience in Egypt is good. The authorities are implementing structures and regulations that enable us to advance projects. What is your biggest ask from governments? What is holding back development today is not the possibility of doing projects. It's the demand side. As long as it is free to emit CO2, it will be difficult to close the gap between green and grey hydrogen. It might be wishful thinking, but a global price for emitting CO2 would be ideal. Regional CO2 pricing is helpful and creates demand in pockets. But it adds costs for that region, which — from a global competition perspective — is not good. Europe's H2Global mechanism is helpful to cover the difference. There might be other pockets, like dual-fuel engine ships that can run partly on clean fuels. Obviously, you need global regulation, as companies cannot move alone. But for end consumers, transporting a pair of sneakers on a ship that uses green ammonia adds insignificant cost. Wouldn't customers for Tesla cars want them transported to Europe in an environmentally-friendly way? And they aren't the most price-sensitive. So, while you cannot do it on a global basis, there are pockets where you can start. How could the change of US administration impact hydrogen? It's a bit difficult. President Trump will not do anything that hurts American business, and climate is far down on his list of priorities. He will support hydrogen to the extent that it benefits US companies to be at the forefront of an industry, but he will not implement specific things in the US. That puts the US hydrogen industry at a disadvantage relative to the rest of the world. He will not lead the change with the US in front. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Latest fertilizer news

Abu Dhabi's Adnoc rolls over sulphur price in February


04/02/25
Latest fertilizer news
04/02/25

Abu Dhabi's Adnoc rolls over sulphur price in February

London, 4 February (Argus) — Abu Dhabi's state-owned Adnoc set its February official sulphur selling price (OSP) for the Indian subcontinent at $174/t fob Ruwais, stable from its January OSP. Adnoc's February OSP implies a delivered price of $190-191/t cfr India, with the freight cost for a 40,000-45,000t shipment to the east coast of India last assessed at $16-17/t on 30 January. The announced OSP fob price rose by $105/t from $69/t fob Ruwais in February 2024. By Maria Mosquera Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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