India launches second round of global urea import tender for 7 million tons

Recently, the Indian Fertilizer Ministry disclosed that the government has officially launched the second global urea import tender, planning to purchase 7 million tons of urea, to ensure the domestic supply of agricultural inputs for this year's Kharif (autumn harvest) planting season. The current round of international tendering is in progress, and the transaction price has not yet been made public.

At a cross-ministerial briefing on the geopolitical situation in West Asia, Aparna S Sharma, Additional Secretary of the Indian Fertilizer Ministry, revealed that international spot urea prices have surged significantly since February this year, rising from a previous $447 per ton to the current $947 per ton. Despite the substantial increase in raw material costs, India continues to ramp up overseas procurement to alleviate domestic fertilizer supply pressure.

According to the stockpiling progress disclosed by officials, India has finalized the procurement of 2.5 million tons of urea and 5 million tons of DAP from regions outside the Strait of Hormuz. This batch of supplies is expected to arrive at ports and enter warehouses between June and July, replenishing domestic fertilizer inventories.

Influenced by geopolitical disturbances in West Asia, India's domestic fertilizer production and imports formed a total new supply of approximately 13.243 million tons in a phased manner, including 10.481 million tons of domestic production and 2.762 million tons of imports arriving during the same period. Combining El Niño climate forecasts, the Indian Department of Agriculture, in coordination with local state governments, has recalculated and lowered the fertilizer demand for this year's autumn harvest season.

Data shows that urea demand for the Kharif season in fiscal year 2026-27 has been revised to 19.4 million tons, a reduction of 400,000 tons from the previous estimate; DAP demand has been lowered by 600,000 tons, with a total verified demand of 6 million tons.

Currently, the sowing of summer crops in India has just entered the initial stage, and the overall progress is relatively early. In areas receiving pre-season rainfall, farmers have begun land preparation and seed preparation for short-duration crops such as pulses, coarse grains, and early-maturing cotton. The stockpiling progress of mainstream fertilizers like urea is directly related to the subsequent implementation of field planting. Industry analysis points out that against the dual backdrop of doubling international fertilizer prices and geopolitical supply chain disruptions, India's consecutive implementation of multiple rounds of global fertilizer tenders aims to avoid risks of supply shortages and surging market prices, thereby stabilizing agricultural production for the autumn harvest season.