In a record purchase, India is likely to import 2.5 million metric tons of urea in a single tender at nearly double the price paid two months ago amid the West Asia conflict, reports said.
The record purchases, covering about a quarter of India’s annual imports, are set to tighten global supply and push prices higher, which have already surged due to the Iran-US war.
Sources said Indian Potash Ltd (IPL) has agreed to buy 1.5 million tons of urea at USD 935 per ton for delivery on the west coast, and an additional 1 million tons at USD 959 per ton for delivery on the east coast.
India, the world’s biggest urea importer, issued the tender earlier this month to secure 2.5 million tons of the fertiliser, or nearly a quarter of its annual imports of about 10 million tons in 2025.
A report by Reuters said the import tender received an order to supply 5.6 million tons of urea in the tender, with only a small portion priced at USD 935 a ton, while most bids clustered around USD 1,000 and climbed as high as USD 1,136.
The price jump is stark compared with the previous tender issued by Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers, where bids stood at just over USD 500 per tonne.
India is the world’s largest urea importer. It buys around 10 million tonnes annually. The latest procurement alone covers nearly a quarter of that requirement, potentially limiting availability for other buyers.
An expert said the scale of India’s buying could leave other importers scrambling, as producers have already committed supplies under the current tender.
Earlier reports had warned that supplies of urea – a key fertiliser used in farming – could come under pressure because of the ongoing conflict in the Gulf and the ongoing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Indian government, however, has repeatedly maintained that sufficient stocks are available and that it is taking all measures to ensure farmers receive sufficient fertiliser during the kharif season (from June to October).
On March 10, the government included the fertiliser sector on its priority list for gas allocation, stating that plants would receive at least 70 per cent of their average natural gas consumption over the previous six months.
Ahead of the kharif season, India’s total fertiliser reserves stood at 18 million metric tonnes (MT) against 13 million MT in 2025. The present stock includes around 6 million MT of urea as of March 10. Compared to this, the government claimed that last year’s urea stock was around 5 million MT.
Over the past decade, the government has emphasised expanding domestic urea production capacity, which has risen from around 20.8 MT per annum in 2014-15 to 28 million MT per annum in 2023-24. However, urea production remains dependent on natural gas, much of which is imported.
