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Indian DAP stocks exceed 2mn t by start of September

  • Spanish Market: Fertilizers
  • 04/09/25

India's DAP stocks have increased further on the back of strong imports, with inventories reaching around 2.2mn t by the start of September, according to provisional figures and Argus line-up data. Importers will need to maintain strong imports to keep stocks above 2mn t over the remainder of the year.

Indian DAP imports edged up on the month to 1.02mn t in August, the highest monthly deliveries since June 2023, Argus line-up data show. Year-to-date imports now total 3.48mn t, well above the 2.09mn t imported over the same period last year. The Indian government has been encouraging DAP imports by covering importers for their losses while international prices are firm.

As well as imported product, India produced 318,000t of DAP in August, provisional data show.

Combined imports and production exceeded below-normal offtake of 902,000t. Many domestic buyers have taken NPs rather than DAP to cover their phosphate demand, because of high prices and lower availability for DAP.

The stockbuild over August totalled around 440,000t, the strongest since April 2023, with national DAP stocks entering September at above the traditional comfortable minimum of 2mn t for the first time since July last year.

The increase in inventories has likely given Indian importers a stronger hand in negotiations and allowed them to maintain purchases below the government-recommended ceiling of $810/t cfr. Importer RCF today bought 30,000t of Russian DAP at $806/t cfr, which was below the previous round of business.

Importers have so far lined up 519,000t of DAP for arrival in September, already above the 2021-24 average for the month. If domestic DAP production and offtake in September match the average for the month in 2021-24, India could enter October with 2.05mn t in stock. Importers will have to bolster the line-up further ahead of a seasonal uptick in demand in the fourth quarter.

TSP imports matched offtake at 68,000t in August, leaving stocks at 253,000t at the start of September.

Indian DAP stocks and prices '000t

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