Fertilizer offtake drops around 50% YoY in March 2025

April 16, 2025 (MLN): The country’s overall nutrient offtake in March 2025 declined sharply to 220 thousand tonnes, showing a 49.5% decrease compared to March 2024, according to the latest monthly fertilizer report issued by the National Fertilizer Development Centre (NFDC).

Among major nutrients, nitrogen and phosphate offtake witnessed significant decreases of 51.7% and 41.5%, respectively.

Potash was the only nutrient to show a positive trend, rising by 19.5% year-on-year.

Urea, DAP

Urea offtake during March 2025 stood at 307 thousand tonnes, marking a 54.3% drop compared to March 2024.

DAP offtake also fell dramatically by 54.5%, recording just 49 thousand tonnes.

Fertilizer production and imported supplies

Total domestic fertilizer production in March 2025 was 832 thousand tonnes.

Urea production was recorded at 590 thousand tonnes, while DAP production reached 71 thousand tonnes.

Production of other products i.e., CAN, NP, SSP, NPKs and SOP was 80, 76, 6.7, 2.5 and 5.5 thousand tonnes, respectively.

Total imported supplies were 5.7 thousand tonnes comprising 4, 0.5, 1 and 0.1 thousand tonnes of DAP, SOP, MOP and UP, respectively.

Supply/Demand Situation

Total urea availability during March 2025 was 1,127 thousand tonnes, including 536 thousand tonnes leftover from February and 590 thousand tonnes from fresh production. 

With offtake at 307 thousand tonnes, the closing balance rose to 820 thousand tonnes.

DAP availability stood at 235 thousand tonnes, sourced from 160 thousand tonnes in stock, 4 thousand tonnes of imports, and 71 thousand tonnes of local production.

After the offtake of 49 thousand tonnes, the closing balance reached 187 thousand tonnes.

Domestic prices

The price of urea (sona), urea (other), and DAP increased slightly by 0.1%, 0.2%, and 0.7%, respectively, during March 2025 as compared with the previous month.

On the other hand, the price of CAN decreased by 1.1%, while prices of other phosphate fertilizer products such as NP, SSP, and SOP changed marginally by 0.7%, 0.1%, and -0.2%, respectively.

The average price of urea (sona), urea (other), and DAP was Rs4,520, Rs4,385, and Rs12,134 per 50 kg bag, respectively.

International prices

The price of urea in the Chinese market remained stable during March 2025, while in the Middle East, it showed a declining trend.

Urea prices were quoted in the range of $260–272 per tonne FOB bulk in China and $365–420 per tonne in the Middle East.

DAP prices in Morocco increased by $15 per tonne, while prices in China remained unchanged.

In March 2025, DAP prices ranged from $606–680 per tonne FOB in Morocco and $620–635 per tonne FOB in China.

MAP and TSP bulk prices ranged between $580–630 and $470–510 per tonne FOB, respectively.

Ex-Karachi price of imported urea ranged between Rs5,079 and Rs7,605 per 50 kg bag, while the price of imported DAP was in the range of Rs11,152 to Rs12,373 per 50 kg bag.

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