Nitrogen (ammonia): Extraction
Why the most abundant gas is hard to use
What this tab covers How it is mined, drilled or grown, and processed into a tradeable form: the main methods compared, their unit economics, by-products, and the companies that do this work globally and in India.Nitrogen is not mined. Air is about 78% nitrogen, but its paired atoms are tightly bound and need great energy to split (Conway, pdf p. 129). Before industry, farmers relied on manure, legumes, saltpetre and Peruvian guano. The Haber-Bosch process now combines nitrogen with hydrogen at high pressure and temperature to make ammonia. The hydrogen now comes mostly from natural gas, which also supplies the heat. Early plants used coal (Conway, pdf p. 265), as many Chinese plants still do. Ammonia is then turned into urea, ammonium nitrate or ammonium phosphates. Chilean nitrate deposits add very little supply (USGS).
Nitrogen is not mined. Every tonne of fixed nitrogen starts as air plus a hydrogen source. The cheapest hydrogen comes from natural gas, so most ammonia is made where gas is cheap: the Gulf states, Russia, North America, Trinidad and North Africa. China makes most of its ammonia from coal. Ammonia is then turned, usually on the same site, into urea or other products that ship easily. A new wave of low-carbon ammonia uses carbon capture or electrolysis, but it is still small and costly. Plant economics depend almost entirely on the gas or coal price, which sets the cost floor for the world market.
Methods compared
| Method | Share of supply | Typical scale | Recovery / efficiency | By-products | Unit cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natural gas steam reforming + Haber-Bosch (often integrated with urea) | just over 70% of world ammonia (IEA 2021) | world-scale plants 1.1-1.3 Mt ammonia a year (Beaumont, Gulf Coast Ammonia; DTN 2025); QAFCO in Qatar is the largest single site at 3.8 Mt ammonia and 5.6 Mt urea capacity (2019) | about 33 MMBtu of gas per t of ammonia (USDA ERS) | CO2 (used for urea, food-grade CO2), steam | Gas is 72-85% of production cost (USDA ERS). Indicative gas cost per t of ammonia (basis: 33 MMBtu/t): about $110 at CF's 2025 average gas cost of $3.31/MMBtu; about $590 at Europe's March 2026 monthly average of $17.91/MMBtu (World Bank) |
| Coal gasification + Haber-Bosch (China, India's Talcher project) | most of the remaining 30% of world ammonia; about 85% of China's ammonia (IEA 2021) and 78% of its urea (Reuters, 2026) | India's Talcher coal-gas urea plant: 1.27 Mt urea a year, 67% complete in May 2025 | n/a | CO2, sulphur, slag | No published cost per tonne found. Indicator: northern China urea sold at about $255-267/t in April 2026 while Indonesian export urea was $700-780/t (Reuters) |
| Imported-LNG and pooled-gas urea (India's model) | India made 30.64 Mt urea in FY2025 and 29.32 Mt in FY2026 against sales of 38.77 Mt and 39.64 Mt | 33 units, reassessed capacity 26.94 Mt a year, actual output about 30.5 Mt; 27 units are over 25 years old | n/a | CO2 and ammonia for industry | Not published as a single figure: costs are assessed plant by plant under the subsidy scheme; FY2026 fertiliser subsidy budget about Rs 1.7 trillion (Fertilizer Daily, 2026) |
| Low-carbon ammonia: blue (reforming + carbon capture) and green (electrolysis) | negligible today | CF/JERA/Mitsui Blue Point JV in Louisiana; civil construction to start 2026 | n/a | captured CO2 (blue); oxygen (green) | 10-100% more per tonne than conventional routes (IEA 2021) |
How each method works
Natural gas steam reforming + Haber-Bosch (often integrated with urea)Methane and steam react over a nickel catalyst to give hydrogen and CO2. The hydrogen joins air nitrogen in the Haber-Bosch loop to make ammonia. The CO2 feeds a urea plant next door. Plants run 24 hours a day for years, so utilisation and gas price decide profit.
Cheapest route where gas is cheap; emits about 2.4 t CO2 per t ammonia (IEA, all routes average) and leaves Europe exposed to gas spikes.
IEA Ammonia Technology Roadmap 2021; USDA ERS WRS-0702 (2007); CF Industries 2025 results; World Bank Pink Sheet Oct 2026; Gulf Times (2019) Coal gasification + Haber-Bosch (China, India's Talcher project)Coal is gasified with oxygen and steam to make syngas, which is shifted and cleaned to pure hydrogen. The rest of the process matches gas plants. China uses domestic coal so that its farm prices do not follow world gas markets.
Secures supply from domestic coal; higher capital cost and much higher CO2 per tonne than gas.
IEA (2021); Reuters via The Daily Star (8 Apr 2026); ETV Bharat citing Department of Fertilizers (Dec 2025) Imported-LNG and pooled-gas urea (India's model)India's 33 urea units run mainly on pooled domestic gas and imported LNG at a uniform delivered price. The government fixes the farm-gate price and pays each plant the gap between its assessed cost and the retail price as subsidy. Output tops out near capacity, so imports fill the rest.
Keeps farm prices stable; ties India's import bill and subsidy to world gas and urea prices.
Chambal Fertilisers MD&A FY2026; ETV Bharat citing Department of Fertilizers (Dec 2025); Fertilizer Daily (Sep 2026) Low-carbon ammonia: blue (reforming + carbon capture) and green (electrolysis)Blue plants use autothermal reformers and capture the concentrated CO2 for storage. Green plants make hydrogen by splitting water with renewable power. Both feed the same Haber-Bosch loop. Most projects target fuel and export markets in Japan, Korea and Europe.
Cuts emissions; costly, and CF dropped its Donaldsonville electrolyser in Dec 2025.
IEA (2021); CF Industries 2025 results Unit economics are indicative ranges from the sources named; costs vary widely by deposit, region and year.Who does it: global
| Company | Country | Activity | Volume | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CF Industries | US | ammonia, urea, UAN, AN | 10.1 Mt gross ammonia production | 2025 | CF Industries full-year 2025 results |
| Nutrien | Canada | ammonia, urea, UAN, solutions | 10.89 Mt nitrogen products sold (manufactured) | 2025 | Nutrien 2025 annual MD&A (Form 40-F) |
| Yara International | Norway | ammonia, nitrates, NPK, urea | 7.07 Mt ammonia produced | 2025 | Yara fourth-quarter 2025 report |
| QAFCO (QatarEnergy) | Qatar | ammonia and urea, single site at Mesaieed | 5.6 Mt urea a year (capacity; plus 3.8 Mt ammonia) | 2019 | Gulf Times, 11 Nov 2019 |
| Pupuk Kalimantan Timur (Pupuk Indonesia group) | Indonesia | urea, ammonia, NPK | 3.58 Mt urea produced (plus 2.77 Mt ammonia) | 2025 | Fortune IDN, Jan 2026 |
Who does it: India
| Company | Country | Activity | Volume | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IFFCO | India | urea, DAP, NPK, nano urea (cooperative) | 4.83 Mt urea produced (total fertilisers 9.06 Mt) | FY2026 | Indian Cooperative, IFFCO FY2025-26 results |
| Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals | India | urea (three plants at Gadepan, Kota) | 3.37 Mt urea produced (3.46 Mt in FY2025) | FY2026 | Chambal Fertilisers MD&A FY2026 |
| National Fertilizers Ltd (NFL) | India | urea (state-owned); also runs urea import tenders | 3.64 Mt urea produced (3.71 Mt in FY2025); also runs urea import tenders | FY2026 | NFL directors' report FY2026 (capacity use 112.7%) |
| Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCF) | India | urea and complex fertilisers (state-owned, Trombay and Thal) | 2.11 Mt urea produced (Thal 1.73 + Trombay 0.38; 2.06 Mt in FY2025) | FY2026 | RCF directors' report FY2026 |
India made 30.64 Mt of urea in FY2025 and 29.32 Mt in FY2026, but sold 38.77 Mt and 39.64 Mt, so imports jumped from 5.65 Mt to 10.38 Mt (Chambal MD&A citing Department of Fertilizers). USGS puts India's ammonia output at 15 Mt N in 2025, joint second with Russia.