Archiv: N (Stickstoff / nitrogen)


19.03.2026 - 15:34 [ Reuters ]

China restricts fertiliser exports, further crimping war-tightened supply

In mid-March, Beijing banned exports of nitrogen-potassium fertiliser blends and certain phosphate varieties, sources told Reuters.

The ban, which has not been formally unveiled, was reported earlier this week ​by Bloomberg News.

Added to existing bans and export quotas for urea, only a handful of fertilisers – notably ammonium sulphate – can be exported, five sources ​said. That would mean between half and three quarters of China‘s exports last year are restricted, potentially up to 40 ⁠million metric tons, according to a Reuters estimate.

18.03.2026 - 18:40 [ Carnegie Endowment for International Peace ]

The Other Global Crisis Stemming From the Strait of Hormuz’s Blockage

(March 12, 2026)

Deprived of their natural gas supplies from Qatar, fertilizer firms in India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan have had to shut down production. Egypt, another important producer, has lost its gas imports from Israel and must turn to the ever-pricier LNG market. The benchmark price of urea, the most widely traded fertilizer, is up about 30 percent in the last month.

The damage extends beyond nitrogen to another key crop nutrient, phosphorus. Gulf countries produce around 20 percent of phosphate fertilizers, and as well as a quarter of global sulfur, which is largely an oil and gas byproduct. Fertilizer producers need sulfur (sulfuric acid, to be precise) to turn phosphate rock into a liquid that plants can absorb.