Sustenance Priority in Urea-Dominated Indian Market to Propel a Fall of 2-3% in Nano Urea Prices During Second half of Q1-2022

The rollout of the first-ever Nano Urea formulation as a high-performance fertilizer alternative for traditional fertilizers by Indian Farmers Fertilizers Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) during August last year marked a revolutionary advancement in the agrochemical sector. Nano urea promises to increase crop yields at reduced fertilizer concentration consumption, thus benefitting soil health and consequently enhancing farmers’ profitability. However, the Nano Urea formulation is still in its infancy, and it needs to cover a long way for achieving widespread commercialization in the urea-dominated Indian market. In order to sustain in the high competition market, the manufacturers are compelled to make price corrections of 2-3% on the downside. The revised prices are expected to stay below the rallying urea prices to attract new buyers.

Registering a hike of 7% during early January from the prices assessed in early December, the urea market in India has been bolstered by global inflationary pressure and the continued shipping challenges. The consequent supply shortage as well as the soaring prices of urea in the Indian market is making farmers fear for their livelihood. Urea, due to its high nitrogen content and easy transportation holds high significance in the agricultural sector.

As per ChemAnalyst, the ongoing season typically marks the purchase of fertilizer stocks by the traders for sales in the upcoming spring usage. However, with the skyrocketing urea prices, the wholesalers have adopted the wait-and-see stance for now in the hope to see a decline in the market trends. This moment can be of most opportune for Nano Urea manufacturers who may get benefitted from kick-off in sales amid the ongoing supply shortage of urea in the country.

What Lies Ahead?

The Indian agriculture sector in the twenty-first century faces the pressure of obtaining maximum crop yield in order to address the food needs of the rapidly growing population while tackling multifarious challenges like unpredictable climate changes and decreasing agriculture productivity. Fertilizers play a pivotal role in increasing soil fertility and promoting plant growth by balancing nutrient levels. However, the nutritional absorption rate of the traditional fertilizers is quite substandard (30-50%), causing the farmers to resort to bulk usage, ending up harming the soil due to an increase in nitrate concentrations that cause eutrophication. The advent of Nano Urea, having the capability of enhancing crop yield and saving nitrate content to up to 50%, is slated to bring a transformation in Indian farming. The increasing use of Nano Urea in the coming months can reduce the country’s dependency on imports eventually saving farmers’ expenditure to a huge extent.