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India’s RCF delays urea tender load date to 30 April

  • Spanish Market: Fertilizers
  • 01/04/26

Indian importer and supplier RCF has delayed the latest loading date under its 18 February urea tender to 30 April from 31 March, citing a supply crunch caused by the Middle East war.

Suppliers are still to nominate five vessels to carry a combined 217,000t of urea under the tender, which saw RCF award around 1.3mn t, according to the latest list seen by Argus. Seven nominated vessels carrying just over 300,000t are stuck behind the strait of Hormuz — three from Qatar, three from Saudi Arabia and one from Bahrain.

The outstanding nominations and stranded vessels mean about 520,000t has yet to be shipped to RCF. Oman is the only country in the Middle East shipping urea freely, with three vessels carrying just over 150,000t sailing under RCF commitments, the list shows.

The war has upended urea supply, cutting off Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain, which typically account for 1mn t/month of shipments — around 20pc of global trade. At least 21 vessels loaded with 919,000t of urea are stranded beyond Hormuz, Kpler tracking data show. The true number could be higher if operators have deactivated automatic identification systems.


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