Urea prices have fallen in Ukraine, but so far only in ports

For new batches of urea imported from Egypt and Turkmenistan, importers lowered prices to 23,600-23,800 UAH/t FCA-port, although back in March prices reached 24,800-25,200 UAH/t.

 

High demand for fertilizers will persist until Easter, as the market has a deficit caused by low rates of urea supplies. At the BIG FERT Conference in Vinnytsia in October 2024, market participants noted the lag in the rates of urea supplies to the market, not only of local but also of foreign production.

 

In March, the production of nitrogen fertilizers decreased sharply, and in the first half of April they dropped to 95 thousand tons. Among the plants producing fertilizers (Azot, Agrotrade and Freya in Cherkasy, Rivneazot, Grosdorf), only Azot produces urea, but from April 1 to 15, the enterprise was not operating.

 

Most enterprises use imported urea to produce UAN, so its cost is the basis for pricing urea-ammonia mixture and urea.

 

Despite the decrease in urea prices at ports, they will remain high in the regions, as the cost of transporting fertilizers has increased due to an increase in railway tariffs amid a decrease in grain cargo flows.

 

Therefore, until the end of April, prices in the regions will fall very slowly, but already in May, the pace of price declines for the entire nitrogen group may accelerate.