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From Morocco to Belarus, a chase for fertilizers across the world
Summary
New Delhi is doubling down on fertilizer imports from non-West Asia countries to shield its sprawling farming sector, as regional conflict and a maritime blockade loom over its traditional supply routes. The world’s largest importer of urea and diammonium phosphate (DAP) is looking to boost purchases from a group of nations including Indonesia, Belarus, Morocco, Russia, and China, three officials involved in the discussions said.
Russia and China have emerged as key suppliers of urea this fiscal year, one of the officials cited above said. "Their supplies are likely to further increase along with other sources. It has become imperative to hedge with alternative sources," the person said on the condition of anonymity.
While West Asian countries remain primary partners for raw materials, alternative sources like Indonesia and Belarus are increasingly "in the reckoning," a senior executive at a private fertilizer producer said. The push for alternatives is aimed to protect the kharif planting season beginning in June. India's primary concern revolves around the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic chokepoint through which approximately 70% of India’s urea imports currently flow.
The fertilizer industry is coordinating with the Centre and states on increasing supply from more countries, the Fertiliser Association of India (FAI) said. “Production planning, imports and logistics are being actively coordinated to maintain adequate availability during the upcoming cropping season. In the case of phosphatic fertilizers, India has diversified supplies and long-term arrangements, and is sourcing from nations such as Morocco, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Belarus, which partially offsets supply disruption risks from one region,” an FAI spokesperson said in response to a query.
Queries emailed to the spokespersons of the Department of Fertilizer, the Ministry of Commerce, and embassies of Belarus, Morocco, Jordan, China and Russian federation in New Delhi remained unanswered till press time.
The fertilizer sector accounts for roughly 30% of India’s natural gas consumption, and domestic manufacturing has been squeezed by recent government mandates prioritizing city gas distribution. With domestic urea production dipping 3.2% in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, the reliance on foreign markets has only intensified. While the government is the bulk importer of urea - the most used fertilizer in India - private industries are free to import other fertilizers on their own.
Since natural gas is the raw material for making urea, India can diversify by increasing LNG imports from Russia, Australia, the US and Canada, said Sachchida Nand, Visiting Professor with the Indian Council or Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), calling such diversification essential to reduce excessive dependence on a few countries, particularly in geopolitically volatile regions.
"Similarly, phosphoric acid and rock phosphate can be sourced from countries such as Jordan, Morocco, Senegal and Egypt. As far as urea is concerned, India has already witnessed increased sourcing from China this year. Going forward, purchases can be further expanded from China, Russia, and Indonesia to ensure stable supplies,” added Nand.
Data from the previous financial year underscores the scale of this exposure. Of the 5.64 million tonne of urea India imported, 70% originated from Oman, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain. Oman alone stood as the largest single supplier. The dependency is even more pronounced in the DAP market, where Saudi Arabia accounted for 41% of India’s 4.57 million tonne of imports. For a nation that is the world's second-largest consumer of fertilizers, the geographic concentration has become a glaring strategic vulnerability.
Experts said while options exist, cost is a major factor.
"India can import urea from Russia, China and Egypt. I don't think global availability would be a major concern. Supplies from Saudi Arabia can come through the Red Sea route, but the cost would be higher,” said Siraj Hussain, India’s former agriculture secretary.
The scramble for new sources is underscored by the explosion in fertilizer imports. Between April and December, urea imports skyrocketed by 85% to 8 million tonne, while DAP imports rose nearly 46%. Russia and China have emerged as the primary beneficiaries of this shift. Analysts point out that while Saudi Arabian supplies can technically be rerouted through the Red Sea, the prohibitive costs and security risks make northern and eastern suppliers more attractive.
India’s fertilizer subsidy is projected at ₹1.71 trillion for the next financial year and ₹1.86 trillion for the ongoing 2025-26 fiscal. India is heavily import dependent for fertilizers; with the world's second-largest agricultural producer importing 60% of its DAP needs, and 15% of its urea and NPK fertilizer demand.
The West Asian crisis has disrupted supplies of LNG, a key ingredient in urea production. The fertilizer sector comprises around 30% of India's natural gas consumption. During April to December period of the ongoing fiscal (FY26) fertilizer was the largest consuming sector with 31% of the consumption.
Last week, the government directed 100% supplies of natural gas to city gas distribution—domestic piped natural gas for cooking and compressed natural gas (CNG) for transport—while reducing supplies to other sectors including fertilizer manufacturing. The supplies to fertilizer plants are currently at 70% of the average consumption in the past six months.
According to FAI, in the first nine months of FY26, domestic urea production fell 3.2% to 22.44 million tonnes, while imports surged 85.3% to 8 million tonnes. Similarly, di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), production declined 3.9% to 3.03 million tonnes, while imports increased 45.7% to 5.95 million tonnes.
India has imported 9.8 million tonnes of finished fertilizers up to February 2026, and further imports of more than 1.7 million tonnes are already lined up for the next three months till end May.
A spokesperson for Indonesian Embassy said, “According to the latest data, there has been an increase in fertilizer exports to India, namely in 2024 ($10.9 million) and 2025 ($342.8 million). The types of fertilizer exported by Indonesia are urea, ammonia and NPK. We have not received any information regarding further exports to India."
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Russia and China have emerged as key suppliers of urea this fiscal year, one of the officials cited above said. "Their supplies are likely to further increase along with other sources. It has become imperative to hedge with alternative sources," the person said on the condition of anonymity.
While West Asian countries remain primary partners for raw materials, alternative sources like Indonesia and Belarus are increasingly "in the reckoning," a senior executive at a private fertilizer producer said. The push for alternatives is aimed to protect the kharif planting season beginning in June. India's primary concern revolves around the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic chokepoint through which approximately 70% of India’s urea imports currently flow.
The fertilizer industry is coordinating with the Centre and states on increasing supply from more countries, the Fertiliser Association of India (FAI) said. “Production planning, imports and logistics are being actively coordinated to maintain adequate availability during the upcoming cropping season. In the case of phosphatic fertilizers, India has diversified supplies and long-term arrangements, and is sourcing from nations such as Morocco, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Belarus, which partially offsets supply disruption risks from one region,” an FAI spokesperson said in response to a query.
Queries emailed to the spokespersons of the Department of Fertilizer, the Ministry of Commerce, and embassies of Belarus, Morocco, Jordan, China and Russian federation in New Delhi remained unanswered till press time.
The fertilizer sector accounts for roughly 30% of India’s natural gas consumption, and domestic manufacturing has been squeezed by recent government mandates prioritizing city gas distribution. With domestic urea production dipping 3.2% in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, the reliance on foreign markets has only intensified. While the government is the bulk importer of urea - the most used fertilizer in India - private industries are free to import other fertilizers on their own.
Since natural gas is the raw material for making urea, India can diversify by increasing LNG imports from Russia, Australia, the US and Canada, said Sachchida Nand, Visiting Professor with the Indian Council or Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), calling such diversification essential to reduce excessive dependence on a few countries, particularly in geopolitically volatile regions.
"Similarly, phosphoric acid and rock phosphate can be sourced from countries such as Jordan, Morocco, Senegal and Egypt. As far as urea is concerned, India has already witnessed increased sourcing from China this year. Going forward, purchases can be further expanded from China, Russia, and Indonesia to ensure stable supplies,” added Nand.
Data from the previous financial year underscores the scale of this exposure. Of the 5.64 million tonne of urea India imported, 70% originated from Oman, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain. Oman alone stood as the largest single supplier. The dependency is even more pronounced in the DAP market, where Saudi Arabia accounted for 41% of India’s 4.57 million tonne of imports. For a nation that is the world's second-largest consumer of fertilizers, the geographic concentration has become a glaring strategic vulnerability.
Experts said while options exist, cost is a major factor.
"India can import urea from Russia, China and Egypt. I don't think global availability would be a major concern. Supplies from Saudi Arabia can come through the Red Sea route, but the cost would be higher,” said Siraj Hussain, India’s former agriculture secretary.
The scramble for new sources is underscored by the explosion in fertilizer imports. Between April and December, urea imports skyrocketed by 85% to 8 million tonne, while DAP imports rose nearly 46%. Russia and China have emerged as the primary beneficiaries of this shift. Analysts point out that while Saudi Arabian supplies can technically be rerouted through the Red Sea, the prohibitive costs and security risks make northern and eastern suppliers more attractive.
India’s fertilizer subsidy is projected at ₹1.71 trillion for the next financial year and ₹1.86 trillion for the ongoing 2025-26 fiscal. India is heavily import dependent for fertilizers; with the world's second-largest agricultural producer importing 60% of its DAP needs, and 15% of its urea and NPK fertilizer demand.
The West Asian crisis has disrupted supplies of LNG, a key ingredient in urea production. The fertilizer sector comprises around 30% of India's natural gas consumption. During April to December period of the ongoing fiscal (FY26) fertilizer was the largest consuming sector with 31% of the consumption.
Last week, the government directed 100% supplies of natural gas to city gas distribution—domestic piped natural gas for cooking and compressed natural gas (CNG) for transport—while reducing supplies to other sectors including fertilizer manufacturing. The supplies to fertilizer plants are currently at 70% of the average consumption in the past six months.
According to FAI, in the first nine months of FY26, domestic urea production fell 3.2% to 22.44 million tonnes, while imports surged 85.3% to 8 million tonnes. Similarly, di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), production declined 3.9% to 3.03 million tonnes, while imports increased 45.7% to 5.95 million tonnes.
India has imported 9.8 million tonnes of finished fertilizers up to February 2026, and further imports of more than 1.7 million tonnes are already lined up for the next three months till end May.
A spokesperson for Indonesian Embassy said, “According to the latest data, there has been an increase in fertilizer exports to India, namely in 2024 ($10.9 million) and 2025 ($342.8 million). The types of fertilizer exported by Indonesia are urea, ammonia and NPK. We have not received any information regarding further exports to India."
Stay updated with the latest Trending, India , World and US news.
Download the Mint app and read premium stories
AI Description
The article discusses India's strategic shift in sourcing fertilizers due to geopolitical tensions affecting traditional supply routes. It highlights India's efforts to secure alternative sources from countries like Indonesia, Belarus, Morocco, Russia, and China.