Some industry analyst forecast that there will be shortage in fertilizer supply in 2021, and made some suggestions on how to ensure fertilizer supply for next year.

Help coal-based urea enterprises to raise capacity utilization rate

The Chinese government attaches great important to grain security in China, so it is important to ensure coal-based urea enterprises to have high operating rates.

Ensure raw material and power supply to chemical fertilizer enterprises

Priority should be given to ensuring the supply of coal, natural gas and electricity to fertilizer enterprises, so as to minimize the shutdown of fertilizer enterprises due to the shortage of raw materials.

Priority shall be given to ensuring natural gas supply to gas-based urea enterprises. Southwest China is a major urea producing region in China, and it is also the most important phosphate fertilizer producing area in China, so natural gas supply limitation will not only affect the production of nitrogen fertilizer but also the supply of synthetic ammonia, which will ultimately affect phosphate fertilizer production. As a result, it is important for gas-based urea enterprises to resume operations as soon as possible.

Leverage the national commercial offseason reserves of chemical fertilizer

The national commercial off-season reserve of chemical fertilizer is intended to help fertilizer producers survive the off-season smoothly, thus ensuring the agricultural demand for fertilizer to be met in the coming year. The prices of fertilizer have already risen sharply and the target of national commercial reserve has been achieved. Therefore, it is necessary to release the national commercial reserve in the off-season ahead of time to avoid large price fluctuations.

Increase potash imports

Chemical fertilizer supply in China tends to be tight in the coming months. Some industry insiders proposed that China shall restrain fertilizer exports or increase imports to meet the domestic demand. However, it may cause the price rise of fertilizer in the global market, which will spur more exports.