Russia-Ukraine (Russia-Ukraine War) The continuation of the war and the suspension of Russia’s export of fertilizers will be a major setback for India. Of the 2.4 million tonnes of ammonia that arrived in our country from the Ukrainian port of Odessa in 2021, 0.15 million tonnes was produced in Ukraine and the rest was produced by Russia.
Russia is the world’s second largest producer of chemical fertilizers such as ammonia, urea and potash. Russia is the world’s fifth-largest producer of complex phosphates. Russia accounts for 23% of ammonia, 14% of urea, 21% of potash and 10% of complex phosphate.
The Black Sea region is a major production and distribution hub for chemical fertilizers. The continuation of the war will have a severe impact on the agricultural sector as India’s availability of fertilizers is closely linked to imports.
On an average, India imports about 5 million tonnes of chemical fertilizers. It is mainly imported from China, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Jordan. Potash is imported from Canada, Russia, Belarus, Jordan, Lithuania, Israel and Germany.
India is the largest importer of urea in the world. It imports 8 to 9 million tonnes a year from China, Oman, Ukraine and Egypt. An increase in the price of natural gas will also increase the price of ammonia. Fertilizer production plants at Gorakhpur, Baruni and Sindh can only increase availability if maximum production capacity is achieved.