OREANDA-NEWS In the first quarter of 2024, India reduced purchases of nitrogen fertilizers by 35 percent year-on-year. The fact that the main buyer of Russian fertilizers has decided to reduce purchases of some of them, with reference to the materials of the Center for Price Indices (CCI), the Vedomosti newspaper reports.

Fertilizer imports to the Asian country fell to 1.1 million tons due to cheaper gas and imported LNG, which are used to produce 90 percent of urea in the region. This led to a reduction in the cost of manufacturing a ton of fertilizers by $ 84 per ton compared to imported carbamide on the basis of CFR ("cost and freight"). Taking into account domestic prices, the cost of producing a ton of fertilizers decreased by six percent, to $ 246.

India is the world's largest market for urea, but the government is trying to reduce the country's dependence on imports. In 2023, Russia took the third place in terms of urea imports with a share of 16 percent (1.4 million tons), behind Oman and China. At the same time, export prices have ranged from $275 to $325 per ton since the beginning of 2024.