# Nitrogen (ammonia)

Ammonia fixed from air using natural gas: the fertiliser that feeds roughly half of humanity and ties food to energy prices.

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nitrogen/

Fertilisers · No. 4

- Not on a critical list
 Fertilisers · Foundation · Matter

Every breath is 78% nitrogen, yet turning that air into fertiliser takes so much gas it ties food to energy prices.

Chart: Illustration: Nitrogen (ammonia)

##### Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Nitrogen is never mined. Air is 78% nitrogen, but its paired atoms cling so tightly that splitting them needs high heat, pressure and hydrogen made from natural gas or coal.

##### Three things to know

1. Urea dominates the fertiliser trade because it is a solid, 46% nitrogen and cheap to ship.
2. US Gulf ammonia averaged $1,070 per short ton in 2022, then just $450 in 2025.
3. Nitrogen sits on no critical minerals list because its raw material is air, yet nearly half of humanity depends on it.

##### The journey

1. 1 **Gas and air**Natural gas or coal, plus air
2. 2 **Reforming**Steam splits methane to make hydrogen
3. 3 **Haber-Bosch**Hydrogen and nitrogen fused into ammonia
4. 4 **Fertiliser forms**Urea, ammonium nitrate, UAN or DAP
5. 5 **Fields**Spread on crops, mostly cereals
 Covered in [From ground to marketCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/from-ground-to-market/)

##### Go deeper pick a tab to open it in full

## Other sections

- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nitrogen/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nitrogen/correlation/index.md)
- [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nitrogen/extraction/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nitrogen/production/index.md)
- [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nitrogen/stocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nitrogen/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nitrogen/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nitrogen/movement/index.md)
- [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nitrogen/criticality/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nitrogen/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nitrogen/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nitrogen/links/index.md)