Nitrogen (ammonia): Characteristics
Why urea, at 46% nitrogen, rules the trade
What this tab covers The supply and physical characteristics of the commodity. Supply: current production, inventories and stocks, capacity utilisation, geographic and producer concentration, how fast supply responds to price, the project pipeline and capital spending, and logistics and export flows. Material: the physical and chemical properties that set its grade, price and end uses (for example purity and conductivity for metals, API gravity, sulfur and energy content for fuels, moisture, protein and fibre quality for crops).Supply volume characteristics
| Characteristic | Figure | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current production volume | about 160 Mt N in ammonia (2025e, USGS); 190.5 Mt of ammonia (2024, IFA) | China 49 Mt N, India 15 Mt, Russia 15 Mt, US 14 Mt, Indonesia 6 Mt. About 201 Mt of urea was made in 2024 (IFA). | USGS MCS 2026, Nitrogen; IFA via DTN (Dec 2025) |
| Inventory and stock levels | US producer stocks 440 kt N at end-2025, about 1.5 weeks of US use; India held 7.51 Mt urea at end-Aug 2026, about 10 weeks of sales | Weeks derived from US apparent consumption of 15 Mt N and India's urea sales of 39.64 Mt in FY2026. India's stocks were 78% higher than a year earlier. Neither country keeps a strategic stockpile. | USGS MCS 2026; Fertilizer Daily (2026); Chambal MD&A FY2026 (derived) |
| Capacity utilisation | US ammonia plants about 80% (2025); Indian urea plants above 100% of reassessed capacity | US plants ran at about 80% of rated capacity (USGS). India's 33 urea units made about 30.5 Mt against 26.94 Mt reassessed capacity; NFL reported 112.7% capacity use in FY2026. | USGS MCS 2026; Department of Fertilizers via ETV Bharat (2025); NFL report FY2026 |
| Geographic and producer concentration | China 30.6%, top-3 (China, India, Russia) 49.4%; HHI about 1,260 (listed countries, 2025e) | Unconcentrated by firm: CF Industries (10.1 Mt gross ammonia) is about 5% of world output and Yara (7.07 Mt) about 4% (derived from IFA total). Exports are more concentrated in the Gulf, Russia, Trinidad and North Africa. | USGS MCS 2026 (derived); company reports 2025 |
| Supply elasticity | short run: set by gas price and plant uptime; long run: about 3-5 years to build a plant (indicative) | Plants run continuously, so supply drops quickly when gas spikes, as in Europe in 2022, and recovers when gas falls. New world-scale plants of 1.1-1.3 Mt a year take several years. | Content tile; IEA (2021) (indicative) |
| Project pipeline and CapEx | new capacity in Asia, Eastern Europe and North America; low-carbon projects small | India's Talcher coal-gas urea plant (1.27 Mt a year) was 67% complete in May 2025. CF, JERA and Mitsui's Blue Point blue ammonia JV in Louisiana starts civil works in 2026. CF dropped its Donaldsonville electrolyser in Dec 2025. | USGS MCS 2026; Department of Fertilizers via ETV Bharat (2025); CF Industries 2025 results |
| Logistics and export flows | urea export value $11.2 billion and ammonia $5.9 billion (2024); about 40% of seaborne urea passes the Strait of Hormuz | Urea moves as dry bulk; ammonia in refrigerated gas carriers at -33 C. Brazil (16.2%), India (11.9%) and the US (10.2%) lead urea imports. The Gulf is the main chokepoint. | Comtrade 2024; Kpler via farmdoc daily (2026) |
Material characteristics Industrial mineral
Fixed nitrogen is sold by its N content in forms that suit handling: anhydrous ammonia, urea, ammonium nitrate, UAN solutions and ammonium sulfate. Urea dominates trade because it is solid, 46% N and cheap to ship. Buyers check biuret, moisture and granule size; ammonia itself matters as a refrigerated liquid and, increasingly, as a fuel.
| Property | Value / specification | Why it matters | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrogen content | ammonia 82.2% N; urea at least 46% N; ammonium nitrate about 34%; UAN 28-32%; ammonium sulfate 21% | Price per tonne of N decides which form is cheapest to ship and apply | Stoichiometry; India Fertiliser (Control) Order 1985 |
| Biuret (urea) | at most 1.5% by weight | Biuret is toxic to plants, especially in foliar sprays | India Fertiliser (Control) Order 1985 |
| Moisture (urea) | at most 1.0% by weight | Moist urea cakes and loses flowability | India Fertiliser (Control) Order 1985 |
| Granule size | prilled urea about 1-2.8 mm; granular urea about 2-4 mm (indicative) | Granular urea blends and spreads better and earns a premium | Fertiliser (Control) Order; industry norms (indicative) |
| Neem coating | all Indian urea is neem coated | Slows nitrogen release and stops diversion of subsidised urea to industry | Government of India (2015) |
| Ammonia handling and energy | boils at -33 C; liquid density about 0.68 t/m3; lower heating value about 18.6 GJ/t (indicative) | Sets storage and shipping cost, and value as a fuel | Physical data (indicative) |