In the midst of thawing, China to revive fertilizer supply to India soon

Copyright © HT Digital Streams Limit all rights reserved. Vijay C Roy 4 min read 26 Aug 2025, 09:50 pm is the shipping before the Rabi sow season, when the availability of fertilizer is critical and is expected to ease the pressure on the supplies and prices for the farm sector. (AFP) Summary After months of offering disruption, India will soon receive specialty fertilizer from China, which ensures the availability of the Rabi sow season in time. This development indicates improved bilateral ties and addresses India’s concerns about fertilizer imports. New -Delhi: After months of disruption in the offer, India will receive consignments of Beijing specialty in the coming 20-25 days of consignments, following insurance by Foreign Minister Wang Yi, during his recent visit. The move will facilitate the supply interruptions and also indicate warmer bilateral involvement. Together with specialty fertilizers used in high value crops, India will probably also receive fresh urea and di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) consignments from China within two weeks, according to two people who are aware of the development. The consignments will be critical before the sowing season of the Rabi sow, when the availability of timely fertilizer is critical, and is expected to facilitate the pressure on the supplies and prices for the farm sector. During his visit to New -Delhi, the Chinese Foreign Minister gave assurances to alleviate India’s concerns that were to various sectors, including fertilizers, rare earths and tunnels -related machines. “The recent development is a pragmatic approach to economic and bilateral relations between the two countries,” said Br Deepak, a professor of China studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit at the end of this month. “We are in contact with the suppliers of specialty fertilizer in China and expect the consignment to start dumping in the domestic market within the next 20-25 days,” said Rajib Chakraborty, national president, soluble fertilizer industry (SFIA). Almost 80% of imports of specialty fertilizer in India, including water-soluble nutrients, fluid sprays, slow and controlled exemption formulations, and bio-stimulants are obtained according to the estimates of the industry. Speciality Fertilizers include polymer-covered urea that is slowly released into the soil and is available for plants over a long period of time, boned micronutrients that are effective in alkaline soil, water-soluble fertilizers such as monoammonium phosphate and potassium nitrate, as well as stabilized nitrogening functions using effective nitrogenic. Asked about the amount of import orders by Indian importers, Chakraborty said the number is “difficult to determine” at the moment. “But there is already a backlog of about 50,000 tonnes that were supposed to be delivered in May, June, but not delivered amid the supply disruption.” In an answer to a query in the Lok Sabha on July 25, the Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Jagat Prakash Nadda said that China has withheld the export of specialty fertilizer to India for the past two to three months. Speciality fantilizers are not covered under the Ambit or Futrient Based Subsidies (NBS) scheme administered by the Department of Fertilizers, and therefore they are not subsidized. Fertilizers are free to import them according to their business dynamics. In the midst of this supply disruption, Indian businesses have actively obtained water -soluble fertilizers (WSF) from alternative suppliers in Belgium, Egypt, Germany, Morocco and the US to address the shortage caused by reduced imports from China. In the case of micronutrients, India feeds a large amount of different micronutrients from Greece, Turkey, the US, Spain, Singapore and the Netherlands, while a small amount of zinc sulfate monohydrate is obtained from China, Nadda said. The demand for specialty fertilizers becomes approximately 1.2-1.3 million tons annually. Among the most important categories, micronutrients have the largest 50-55%share in the total consumption of specialty art fabrics, followed by WSF (25-30%), sulfur (12-15%) and liquid fertilizers. India is significantly dependent on raw materials and finished specialty fertilizers from China and countries such as Russia, Norway, Tunisia and Morocco. According to stakeholders in the industry, only 3-5% of the total fertilizer market is only 3-5% of the total fertilizer market. In 2023, India’s total fertilizer size was about $ 40.5 billion. ‘NE -mail -Question to the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers and the Ministry of Agriculture regarding the resumption of importing fertilizers from China remained unanswered until per time. “The expected resumption of fertilizer supplies from China will be a positive for India, especially given the imminent Rabi, or winter, the season,” says Anand Kulkarni, director of Crisil Ratings. “India imports about 60% of its Di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) and 15-20% of its urea requirements. China made up 25-30% of such imports in the three fiscal to 31 March 2024. Last fiscal the share of Chinese imports dropped to about 8% as the country caught the offer,” Kulkarni said. India imported 1.8 million tonnes and 2.2 million tonnes of urea and Dap of China in FY24 respectively. According to Anand, the Ministry of Fertilizer Stores has made alternative arrangements, including the recent signing of a long-term agreement with Saudi Arabia to meet about 30% of the country’s DAP needs. Catch all the business news, market news, news reports and latest news updates on Live Mint. Download the Mint News app to get daily market updates. More Topics #Agriculture #Agriculutre #Fertilisers #News #India Read Next Story