Material Insights · Understanding the Material World

Ammonia: Movement

Trinidad ships, Morocco buys for its phosphate plants

What this tab covers How it moves between countries: share of output traded, physical form and transport, the largest exporters and importers, main routes, India's trade, and handling rules in transit.

Trade in 2024 UN Comtrade, HS 281410

World exports $5.87 bn 80 reporting exporters · about 12.7 m t Largest exporter Trinidad and Tobago 21.4% of world exports Largest importer Morocco 21.4% of world imports India imports $981.9 m
exports $1.82 m #3 importer · #31 exporter

Where it is exported from and imported to, 2024

Chart: World map of the largest trade flows

Exporter (size = share of world exports) Importer (share of world imports) Shipping chokepoint UN Comtrade 2024, HS 281410: shares of reported world exports and imports by value. Country-to-country route lines are not available for this commodity yet. Hover a circle for values.

HS 281410: largest exporters

CountryShareValue (US$)Tonnes
Trinidad and Tobago21.4%$1.26 bn2.77 m
Saudi Arabia14.1%$828.9 m2.19 m
Canada12.5%$736.4 m1.08 m
Indonesia10.3%$607.8 m1.71 m
Algeria7.4%$432.4 m720k
United States5.6%$328.8 m1.04 m
Netherlands4.7%$273.7 m498k
Germany4.5%$263.9 m477k

HS 281410: largest importers

CountryShareValue (US$)Tonnes
Morocco21.4%$1.77 bn3.70 m
United States14.7%$1.22 bn2.07 m
India11.9%$981.9 m–
South Korea5.9%$488.7 m–
Belgium4.5%$374.3 m756k
Türkiye4.4%$363.6 m797k
Norway3.3%$273.6 m603k
France3.2%$269.0 m–
UN Comtrade 2024, reported by each country (exports by exporters, imports by importers), all partners. Some countries (for example Russia and Iran) do not report, so their shares are missing. HS codes can be broader than the tile: check the code before reading a share as the whole market.

How it moves

MeasureFigure
Share tradedabout 8-10% of output (indicative, basis: reported exports of 12.7 Mt worth $5.87 billion in 2024 (UN Comtrade), plus non-reporters such as Russia, against 190.5 Mt)
How it movesRefrigerated liquid at -33 C in fully refrigerated gas carriers; pressurised road and rail tankers; pipelines in the US Corn Belt and Russia (Togliatti-Odesa line shut since 2022, indicative). Most ammonia is converted on site because shipping it is costly and hazardous.
Routes and chokepointsCaribbean to US Gulf and Morocco; Middle East Gulf to India, Morocco and East Asia through Hormuz; Indonesia to Korea, China and India; Algeria to Europe. Hormuz is the main chokepoint, as 2026 showed.
IndiaIndia imported $0.98 billion of ammonia in 2024 (11.9% of world value); Saudi Arabia shipped $300 million and Indonesia $86 million to India (Comtrade partner data). Exports were negligible ($2 million).
Handling in transitUN1005, class 2.3 (toxic gas) with subsidiary 8 (corrosive). Toxic by inhalation at a few hundred ppm; requires refrigerated or pressurised containment and emergency plans at ports.