# Where does urea come from?

Source: Commodity Origins, https://commodityorigins.com/commodities/urea/ — data JSON: https://commodityorigins.com/data/commodities/urea.json — license CC BY 4.0 (upstream data keeps its license; see Sources below).

The biggest exporter of urea (HS 310210) is Russia (16% of world export value in 2024, CEPII BACI). The benchmark price, Urea, FOB Middle East, was $390/t in August 2026, down 23% from a year earlier (World Bank Pink Sheet). Urea is made from natural gas and air, so the plants sit wherever gas is cheap and hard to export any other way — the Persian Gulf, North Africa, Russia, Trinidad and Nigeria — and the finished granules travel the world instead of the gas.

*The main nitrogen fertilizer, made by combining ammonia with carbon dioxide; ammonia itself is made from natural gas.* Also called: nitrogen fertilizer, nitrogenous fertilizer, granular urea, prilled urea.

## Who exports and imports urea?

Urea plants sit where natural gas is cheap, so Russia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran dominate exports while India and Brazil dominate imports.

### Exporters of mineral or chemical fertilizers, nitrogenous (HS 3102), 2024

| Rank | Country | Value (US$) | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Russia | $4.9 billion | 14% |
| 2 | China | $3.3 billion | 9.6% |
| 3 | Oman | $2.7 billion | 7.9% |
| 4 | Qatar | $1.8 billion | 5.2% |
| 5 | Egypt | $1.7 billion | 4.9% |
| 6 | Saudi Arabia | $1.7 billion | 4.8% |
| 7 | Netherlands | $1.6 billion | 4.6% |
| 8 | United States | $1.3 billion | 3.7% |
| 9 | Algeria | $1 billion | 3% |
| 10 | Nigeria | $1 billion | 2.9% |
| 11 | Germany | $959.1 million | 2.8% |
| 12 | Belgium | $929.5 million | 2.7% |
| 13 | United Arab Emirates | $840.3 million | 2.4% |
| 14 | Malaysia | $766.6 million | 2.2% |
| 15 | Poland | $710.9 million | 2.1% |

### Importers of mineral or chemical fertilizers, nitrogenous (HS 3102), 2024

| Rank | Country | Value (US$) | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil | $4.5 billion | 13% |
| 2 | United States | $3.2 billion | 9.3% |
| 3 | India | $2.4 billion | 7.1% |
| 4 | Australia | $1.8 billion | 5.1% |
| 5 | France | $1.5 billion | 4.3% |
| 6 | Turkey (Türkiye) | $1.1 billion | 3.1% |
| 7 | Thailand | $1 billion | 3% |
| 8 | Germany | $908.6 million | 2.6% |
| 9 | Canada | $845.1 million | 2.5% |
| 10 | Mexico | $816.3 million | 2.4% |
| 11 | United Kingdom | $743.8 million | 2.2% |
| 12 | Poland | $623 million | 1.8% |
| 13 | Argentina | $531.7 million | 1.5% |
| 14 | Spain | $510.2 million | 1.5% |
| 15 | Romania | $489.6 million | 1.4% |

### Exporters of urea, whether or not in aqueous solution (HS 310210), 2024

| Rank | Country | Value (US$) | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Russia | $3.2 billion | 16% |
| 2 | Oman | $2.7 billion | 13% |
| 3 | Qatar | $1.8 billion | 8.8% |
| 4 | Saudi Arabia | $1.6 billion | 8% |
| 5 | Egypt | $1.5 billion | 7.5% |
| 6 | Algeria | $1 billion | 5% |
| 7 | Nigeria | $974.9 million | 4.8% |
| 8 | United Arab Emirates | $790.1 million | 3.9% |
| 9 | Malaysia | $756.5 million | 3.7% |
| 10 | Indonesia | $567.3 million | 2.8% |
| 11 | Germany | $489.8 million | 2.4% |
| 12 | United States | $468.4 million | 2.3% |
| 13 | Brunei | $395.3 million | 1.9% |
| 14 | Netherlands | $363.5 million | 1.8% |
| 15 | Poland | $332.9 million | 1.6% |

### Importers of urea, whether or not in aqueous solution (HS 310210), 2024

| Rank | Country | Value (US$) | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil | $2.9 billion | 14% |
| 2 | India | $2.1 billion | 10% |
| 3 | United States | $1.9 billion | 9.2% |
| 4 | Australia | $1.4 billion | 7% |
| 5 | Thailand | $921.8 million | 4.5% |
| 6 | Turkey (Türkiye) | $880.7 million | 4.3% |
| 7 | France | $609.7 million | 3% |
| 8 | Mexico | $564.4 million | 2.8% |
| 9 | Canada | $531.5 million | 2.6% |
| 10 | Poland | $414.6 million | 2% |
| 11 | Argentina | $389.9 million | 1.9% |
| 12 | Italy | $357.5 million | 1.7% |
| 13 | Spain | $339.4 million | 1.7% |
| 14 | South Africa | $324 million | 1.6% |
| 15 | Philippines | $323.3 million | 1.6% |

Source: CEPII BACI international trade database (HS22, V202601).

In 2024 the largest exporter of urea (HS 310210) was Russia, with $3.2 billion, or 16% of the world's $20.5 billion of export value (CEPII BACI), ahead of Oman (13%), Qatar (8.8%), Saudi Arabia (8%) and Egypt (7.5%). Between them the Persian Gulf and North Africa supply most of what crosses a border. On the buying side Brazil took $2.9 billion, 14% of the world's $20.5 billion of imports, followed by India (10%), United States (9.2%) and Australia (7%).

Widening from urea to all nitrogenous fertilizers under HS 3102, which adds ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, calcium ammonium nitrate and UAN solution, the trade was worth $34.5 billion in 2024. Russia led with 14%, then China (9.6%) and Oman (7.9%), while Brazil (13%) and United States (9.3%) were the largest importers. The wider heading brings in European producers who make nitrate fertilizers for their own continent, which is why the two tables rank differently. Note also that the import table counts finished urea only: India and the United States both import ammonia as well, which does not appear here at all.


## What does urea cost?

- Urea, FOB Middle East: $390/t in August 2026; 12-month change -23%; 10-year change +109%; all-time high $925/t in April 2022; real high (2024 US$) $1,916/t in January 1974 (World Bank Pink Sheet).

Prices are monthly benchmark averages that lag the market; not investment advice.

### How it is priced

Urea is the most standardized and most liquid fertilizer in the world, and it comes closest to trading like a commodity rather than a specialty. It is one product, 46% nitrogen, made to the same specification everywhere, easy to store and cheap to handle, so cargoes are genuinely fungible between origins. Prices are published as weekly assessments by reporting agencies such as Argus, Profercy, CRU and Fertilizer Week, built from reported deals, bids and offers at each loading point, and a cash-settled swap market settled against those assessments gives producers, traders and distributors a way to hedge. Those swaps are the most active fertilizer derivatives there are, though they remain small next to the physical trade.

The series charted here is Urea, FOB Middle East. In August 2026 it stood at $390/t, down 23% from a year earlier (World Bank Pink Sheet). The record monthly average is $925/t, set in April 2022 as European gas prices and the invasion of Ukraine hit the market together; measured against US consumer prices the real high was much earlier, $1,916/t in January 1974, during the first oil shock. The lowest month in a series that begins in 1960 was $16/t in January 1971. FOB means the granules loaded onto the ship at the exporting berth; a CFR quote at Brazil, India or New Orleans is the same product with ocean freight, insurance and discharge added, and the difference between the two is a freight number rather than a fertilizer one.

Two more conventions matter when reading a quote. The first is physical form. Prilled urea is made by dropping molten urea down a tower so it solidifies into small beads, and granular urea is built up in layers in a drum into larger, harder particles that survive bulk blending and spread further from a mechanical spreader. They are priced separately, and India has traditionally bought prilled while the Americas buy granular. The second is that the single largest recurring event in the market is an Indian import tender: the state trading agencies announce a purchase, the offers are published, and the awarded price resets assessments worldwide within days. Contracts otherwise tend to be short, a cargo or a season, because the product is standard and buyers see little reason to lock in.


## What moves the price of urea?

### Natural gas prices and the marginal plant

Gas is the feedstock and the fuel, so the cost curve of the industry is a map of gas prices. Producers in the Persian Gulf, North Africa and Russia buy gas at regulated or netback prices far below European levels, while European plants pay the traded price at the Dutch hub. That makes Europe the marginal producer: when gas there rises far enough, European ammonia and urea plants cut runs or close, Europe imports more, and the world price is pulled up to the level that keeps enough of that expensive capacity running.

### Indian tenders and subsidy policy

India is among the largest importers and buys through periodic state tenders rather than continuous purchasing, so its demand arrives in blocks. Domestic urea is sold to farmers at a controlled price with the difference met by subsidy, which means the retail signal never reaches the farmer and Indian consumption is stable while Indian import timing is not. A large tender announced into a thin market lifts assessments worldwide, and a long absence of tenders lets them drift down just as quickly.

### Chinese export policy and the coal link

China makes most of its ammonia from coal rather than gas, so its production costs move with thermal coal and with power rationing rather than with the gas market. It is also a large swing exporter, and Beijing regulates that flow through export inspection requirements and seasonal windows in order to protect domestic supply and hold down farm costs. When Chinese tonnes are withheld, buyers in Australia, Southeast Asia and Latin America must bid for Middle Eastern product instead, and the whole curve moves.

### Application seasons in the northern hemisphere

Nitrogen is applied in a few short windows: spring top-dressing on European and Chinese cereals, pre-plant and side-dress on North American corn, and the Indian kharif and rabi seasons. Because urea cannot be stored indefinitely without caking and because storage costs money, buyers try to arrive just before the window opens, and freight and port capacity bind at the same moment everywhere. That seasonality gives the market a repeating rhythm on top of the underlying gas and crop signals.

### Crop prices and planted area

Nitrogen is the least deferrable nutrient, because most soils hold little of it in plant-available form and a skipped application costs yield in the same season. Demand is therefore steadier than for phosphate, but it is not immune. High corn prices raise both planted area and the rate applied per hectare, since corn is the most nitrogen-hungry major crop; low grain prices trim the rate. The ratio between the urea price and the corn price is the number farm agronomists actually watch.

### Sanctions, freight and chokepoints

Russia is among the largest exporters, so sanctions, payment friction and shipping restrictions redirect a large volume without destroying it, opening regional price gaps that would otherwise be arbitraged away. Physical geography compounds this: cargoes from the Persian Gulf pass Hormuz, and those bound for Europe and the Atlantic then pass Bab el-Mandeb and Suez. Diversions around southern Africa add weeks of freight to a low-value bulk cargo, which shows up directly in delivered prices in Brazil and Europe.

### Waves of new capacity

Urea plants are built in a few very large units rather than many small ones, and each takes years from decision to first product. Investment decisions cluster after price spikes, so new capacity in Nigeria, Russia, the United States and the Gulf tends to arrive together several years later, often into a market that no longer needs it. That lag between the signal and the supply is why the series shows long flat stretches punctuated by violent spikes rather than a smooth cycle.

### Carbon policy and low-carbon ammonia

Ammonia production is one of the largest industrial sources of carbon dioxide, because the reformer releases a molecule of it for every batch of hydrogen. Border carbon adjustment in the European Union prices the emissions embodied in imported fertilizer, which changes the relative cost of a Russian, Egyptian or European tonne without changing anyone's plant. Projects that capture the reformer's carbon dioxide or make hydrogen by electrolysis are being built on the strength of those rules rather than on their own costs.

## How is urea produced?

The front end of a urea plant makes hydrogen. Natural gas is desulfurized and mixed with steam over a nickel catalyst at high temperature, which strips hydrogen from the methane and leaves carbon monoxide; a shift reactor converts that carbon monoxide with more steam into carbon dioxide and yet more hydrogen. The carbon dioxide is scrubbed out and set aside, because it will be needed again. Air is introduced to supply nitrogen, traces of remaining oxides are removed, and the cleaned mixture of nitrogen and hydrogen is compressed to a few hundred bar and circulated over an iron catalyst in the synthesis loop, where a fraction converts to ammonia on each pass and is condensed out as a liquid.

Urea synthesis then puts the reformer's two waste streams back together. Liquid ammonia and the recovered carbon dioxide are pumped into a reactor at high pressure, where they combine into ammonium carbamate, which dehydrates to urea and water. Unconverted carbamate is stripped out and recycled, and the urea solution is concentrated by evaporation. From there the plant chooses a shape: molten urea sprayed at the top of a tall prilling tower falls and solidifies into small beads, while a granulation plant sprays it onto seed particles tumbling in a drum or fluidized bed to build larger, harder granules. Granules survive long-distance bulk handling and blending better, which is why most new plants build them.

The finished product is screened, cooled, treated with an anti-caking agent and stored in large flat warehouses before being loaded to ship. Two chemical facts follow it into the field. Urea is hygroscopic, so it absorbs moisture and cakes if stored badly. And once spread, it is converted by the soil enzyme urease into ammonium, a step that releases ammonia gas at the surface and can lose a meaningful share of the nitrogen if the fertilizer is not incorporated or rained in; urease inhibitors and polymer coatings are sold to slow that loss. The same base chemistry supports the sister products: ammonia reacted with nitric acid gives ammonium nitrate, and a blend of urea and ammonium nitrate in water gives UAN, a liquid that can be sprayed.


## What is urea used for?

Most urea is spread on fields. It is the dominant solid nitrogen fertilizer worldwide because it carries more nitrogen per tonne than any alternative, which makes it the cheapest form to ship and to spread, and because it suits almost every crop and soil. Nitrogen is the nutrient applied in the largest volume of the three, and urea is the principal product carrying it. Cereals take the largest part, with rice, wheat and corn between them accounting for most world nitrogen use, and sugar cane, oil palm and cotton adding significantly in the tropics.

The industrial uses are small in tonnage but visible in daily life. The largest is diesel exhaust fluid, a solution of about a third urea in demineralized water that is injected into the exhaust of diesel engines so that ammonia can reduce nitrogen oxides to nitrogen and water; tightening vehicle emission rules have made this a fast-growing outlet. Urea is also the nitrogen half of urea-formaldehyde and melamine-formaldehyde resins, the glues that hold together particleboard, medium-density fiberboard and much interior [plywood](/commodities/plywood/). It is used as a protein substitute in ruminant feed, as a de-icer that does not corrode airport concrete, and as a humectant in skin creams and pharmaceuticals.


## Supply chain and chokepoints

The chain is short: gas in at one end of a single site, bagged or bulk granules out at the other, with a jetty attached. Because ammonia is toxic and expensive to move under refrigeration, the industry prefers to convert it to urea at the plant rather than ship it, which is why merchant ammonia trade is small next to urea trade. The consequence is that a handful of coastal complexes account for most exportable supply: Ruwais and Sohar on the Gulf of Oman, Ras Laffan and Mesaieed in Qatar, Jubail in Saudi Arabia, Damietta and Ain Sokhna in Egypt, Arzew in Algeria, Onne in Nigeria, Point Lisas in Trinidad and the Baltic and Black Sea terminals serving Russian plants.

Cargoes move in Handysize and Supramax bulk carriers to a small set of discharge markets. Brazil takes fertilizer through Paranaguá, Santos and São Francisco do Sul before a long inland haul; the United States discharges at New Orleans and distributes by barge up the Mississippi and Ohio to river terminals, so American nitrogen prices are quoted at NOLA and at the inland terminals separately; India spreads discharge across a dozen ports on both coasts; Australia and Southeast Asia buy directly from the Gulf. Bagging often happens at the destination rather than the origin, because bags take more space than bulk.

The vulnerabilities are gas supply, geography and law. A country that exports urea because its gas is cheap stops exporting the moment domestic power demand or a field decline takes that gas away, which has idled Egyptian and Trinidadian capacity in the past without any change in fertilizer demand. Every Gulf cargo passes Hormuz, and those bound for Europe and the Atlantic pass Bab el-Mandeb and Suez as well, so a Red Sea diversion adds weeks to the route at the season when European and American buyers need product. Sanctions on a large exporter do not remove tonnes from the world but do force them onto longer voyages to different buyers. And low water on the Mississippi can strand American nitrogen at the coast during the spring application window, when it is least replaceable.


## Key companies

- Yara International: ammonia and nitrogen fertilizer producer, Norway, listed (YAR)
- CF Industries Holdings: ammonia, urea and UAN producer, United States, listed (CF)
- Nutrien: nitrogen and potash producer and crop input retailer, Canada, listed (NTR)
- Qatar Fertiliser Company (QAFCO): ammonia and urea producer, Qatar
- EuroChem Group: nitrogen, phosphate and potash producer, Switzerland
- Dangote Fertiliser: granulated urea producer, Nigeria

## Timeline

- 1828-02: Wöhler makes urea from inorganic salts. The synthesis broke the idea that organic compounds needed a living source and began organic chemistry, though the fertilizer industry was still a century away. (https://www.sciencehistory.org/education/scientific-biographies/justus-von-liebig-and-friedrich-wohler/)
- 1913-09: BASF starts the first ammonia plant at Oppau. The world's first industrial-scale ammonia synthesis began operating on 9 September 1913, making nitrogen fertilizer possible at scale for the first time. (https://www.basf.com/global/en/who-we-are/history/Carl-Bosch)
- 1921-09: The Oppau silo explosion. A blast at the same site on 21 September 1921 killed more than 500 people and set the safety rules that still govern how nitrogen fertilizer is stored. (https://www.basf.com/global/en/who-we-are/history/Oppau1921)
- 2021-06: India begins commercial production of nano urea. IFFCO started selling a liquid nano formulation intended to displace part of India's conventional urea consumption and its import bill. (https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/business/iffco-begins-commercial-production-of-nano-urea-liquid-264372)
- 2021-09: Yara curtails European ammonia output. On 17 September 2021 the largest European producer cut about 40% of its ammonia capacity because gas prices had made production uneconomic, the first clear sign of the energy crisis reaching fertilizer. (https://www.yara.com/corporate-releases/yara-curtails-ammonia-production-due-to-increased-natural-gas-prices/)
- 2021-10: China imposes export inspection on urea. A customs measure effective 15 October 2021 required inspection of urea shipments, slowing exports from the largest supplier and tightening the world market into 2022. (https://globaltradealert.org/intervention/100224)
- 2022-03: Dangote commissions Africa's largest urea plant. A 3 million t per year granulated urea complex at Lekki was unveiled in March 2022, turning Nigeria into a significant exporter just as prices peaked. (https://fertiliser.dangote.com/about-us/)
- 2022-08: European ammonia curtailment deepens. On 25 August 2022 Yara cut European ammonia utilization to about 35% of capacity, idling millions of tonnes of finished product and forcing Europe to import nitrogen. (https://www.yara.com/corporate-releases/yara-implements-further-production-curtailments-in-europe/)
- 2024-06: Egyptian fertilizer plants halt on gas shortages. Government gas cuts during a heat wave stopped several Mediterranean urea exporters, showing that gas-linked supply is fragile outside Europe too. (https://egyptianstreets.com/2024/07/03/egypts-fertilizer-producers-halt-operations-amid-gas-crisis/)
- 2025-05: European Parliament approves tariffs on Russian and Belarusian fertilizer. Duties adopted in May 2025 begin at a modest rate and escalate over several years, gradually walling Russian urea out of the European market. (https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20250515IPR28464/parliament-approves-new-tariffs-on-russian-and-belarussian-agricultural-goods)
- 2026-05: Strait of Hormuz disruption lifts fertilizer prices. The World Bank reported that export disruptions in the Gulf pushed its fertilizer price index to its highest since 2022, with urea rising most because Gulf plants supply so much of the traded market. (https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/opendata/fertilizer-prices-surge-as-strait-of-hormuz-disruptions-tighten-)
- 2026-08: Groundbreaking on a large low-carbon ammonia plant. CF Industries and its partners broke ground on 26 August 2026 on a US Gulf Coast plant designed to capture most of its carbon dioxide, the first large test of whether carbon rules reshape where nitrogen is made. (https://www.cfindustries.com/newsroom/2026/blue-point-groundbreaking)

## Frequently asked questions

### Where does urea come from?

From natural gas and air. Gas is reformed to make hydrogen, which is combined with nitrogen from the air to make ammonia, and the ammonia is then reacted with carbon dioxide from the same plant to make urea. Plants sit where gas is cheap: in 2024 Russia led exports with 16%, ahead of Oman and Qatar (CEPII BACI).

### Which country produces the most urea?

No open dataset ranks countries by urea output, because the industry association that collects it publishes under license. Exports are the best public proxy: Russia shipped 16% of the world's $20.5 billion of urea export value in 2024 (CEPII BACI). China and India produce very large volumes that are consumed at home, so both rank far lower on exports than on production.

### Which country exports the most urea?

Russia was the largest exporter of urea (HS 310210) in 2024, with $3.2 billion, 16% of the world's $20.5 billion (CEPII BACI). Oman (13%), Qatar (8.8%) and Saudi Arabia (8%) follow. The exporters are gas producers rather than large farming countries, because urea is a way to monetize stranded natural gas.

### Who imports the most urea?

Brazil was the largest importer in 2024, taking $2.9 billion, or 14% of the world's $20.5 billion of imports (CEPII BACI), ahead of India (10%), United States (9.2%) and Australia (7%). Large arable areas with little cheap gas of their own dominate the buying side.

### Why is urea linked to the natural gas price?

Because gas is both the feedstock and the fuel for making ammonia, the intermediate from which urea is made, and it is the largest single element of cash cost. European plants pay traded gas prices and are the marginal producers, so when gas spikes they cut output and Europe imports instead. The urea benchmark hit $925/t in April 2022 for exactly that reason (World Bank Pink Sheet).

### What is the price of urea?

This site shows monthly averages, not live quotes. The Urea, FOB Middle East assessment was $390/t in August 2026, down 23% from a year earlier (World Bank Pink Sheet). The record monthly average was $925/t in April 2022, and the lowest in a series starting in 1960 was $16/t in January 1971. Prices are agency assessments, not exchange settlements.

### What is urea used for?

Mostly as fertilizer. Urea is 46% nitrogen, the highest of any solid fertilizer, which makes it the cheapest nitrogen to ship and to spread, and cereals take the largest part. Industrial uses are smaller but visible: diesel exhaust fluid for cutting vehicle emissions, urea-formaldehyde and melamine resins that glue wood panels together, protein supplement in ruminant feed, runway de-icer and skin creams.

### What is the Haber-Bosch process?

It is the industrial reaction that combines nitrogen from the air with hydrogen to make ammonia, run at high pressure and temperature over an iron catalyst. Almost all the hydrogen comes from steam reforming natural gas. Ammonia is then reacted with carbon dioxide to make urea. The process is why nitrogen fertilizer exists at all, and why its price tracks energy: urea averaged $390/t in August 2026 (World Bank Pink Sheet).

### What is the difference between prilled and granular urea?

Both are 46% nitrogen but they are shaped differently. Prilled urea is formed by dropping molten urea down a tower, giving small, softer beads. Granular urea is built up in layers in a drum, giving larger, harder particles that survive bulk handling and blending and spread further from a machine. They are assessed separately: the Urea, FOB Middle East series was $390/t in August 2026 (World Bank Pink Sheet).

## Sources

- CEPII BACI international trade database (HS22, V202601), BACI HS22 V202601, fetched 6 September 2026. License: Etalab Open Licence 2.0. https://www.cepii.fr/CEPII/en/bdd_modele/bdd_modele_item.asp?id=37
- World Bank Commodity Price Data (The Pink Sheet), 2026-09-02, fetched 6 September 2026. License: CC BY 4.0. https://www.worldbank.org/en/research/commodity-markets

Text last reviewed 2026-09-06. Cite as: Commodity Origins, "Where does urea come from?", https://commodityorigins.com/commodities/urea/.