Russia Replaces China to Become the Biggest Supplier of Fertilizers to India: Russia has become India’s biggest fertilizer supplier for the first time. Russian exporters reportedly grabbed a 21% share of the Indian fertilizer market in the first half of the 2022-23 fiscal year, overtaking China, previously India’s largest supplier.
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More About This Transition:
India’s fertilizer imports from Russia surged 371% to a record 2.15 million tonnes in the first six months of the year started on April 1, a senior government official who was closely monitoring the imports, told Reuters.
He declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter. In value terms, India’s imports during the period spiked 765% to $1.6 billion, he said. In the last entire fiscal year India imported 1.26 million tonnes from Russia. Russia’s share of Indian fertilizer imports was hovering around 6% during the last fiscal year, while China’s stood at 24%. In the first half of 2022-23, China’s exports to India halved to 1.78 million tons amid growing Russian supplies.
About The Global Prices:
Global prices for fertilizers jumped in March after the US, the EU and allied states introduced sanctions against fertilizer supplies from Russia and Belarus. While Western countries have since backtracked on the ban, Russia has found new markets, mostly in Asia, for its exports.
About Fertilizer production:
Combined, Russia and Belarus accounted for more than 40% of global exports of potash last year. Russia accounted for about 22% of global exports of ammonia, 14% of the world’s urea exports and about 14% of monoammonium phosphate (MAP) – all key kinds of fertilizers.
India’s Import Of Fertilizers:
In June, India obtained di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) from Russia for a cost and freight basis (CFR) of $920-925 per tonne, while other Asian importers paid more than $1,000. The surge in Russian supplies halved China’s exports to India to 1.78 million tonnes in the first half of 2022-23.
Exports from other destinations such as Jordan, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates also fell. In the 2021/22 financial year Russia’s share in Indian imports was around 6%, while China cornered 24%. Russia’s market share jumped to 21% in the first half of 2022/23, surpassing China as the biggest supplier to India.
Global prices could have rallied more had India also moved away from Russia to other suppliers such as China and Morocco, which have limited supplies for exports, he said. In the first half of 2022-23, India’s overall fertiliser imports fell 2.4% year on year to 10.27 million tonnes, despite a 59% increase in value to $7.4 billion.