China imposes export restrictions on some fertilizer producers
- September 7, 2023
- Posted by: Quatro Strategies
- Categories: China, Sanctions & Regulation
China has taken the step of instructing some fertilizer producers to suspend urea exports as a response to rising domestic prices. This move is expected to limit supplies and lead to increased costs for farmers in major importers like India.
Prominent Chinese fertilizer producers have ceased entering into new export agreements since the start of the month as per government orders. Currently, these restrictions pertain solely to urea.
Urea prices experienced a nearly 50% surge on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange during a seven-week period from mid-June to the end of July. However, prices have been subject to fluctuations since that time and are currently approximately 11% lower this week.
As the world’s leading producer and consumer of urea, China’s decision to reduce exports has the potential to constrict global supplies and drive up prices. Some of the key export markets for Chinese urea include India, South Korea, Myanmar, and Australia.
While at least one producer, CNAMPGC Holding Co., has made public announcements about its intention to curtail fertilizer exports to maintain stable supplies and prices.
These restrictions introduce another layer of volatility to the global agricultural market, which has already grappled with extreme weather events, export constraints in India, and the conflict in Ukraine involving Russia.
Interested in learning more?
Sign up for Top Insights Today
Top Insights Today delivers the latest insights straight to your inbox.
You will get daily industry insights on
Oil & Gas, Rare Earths & Commodities, Mining & Metals, EVs & Battery Technology, ESG & Renewable Energy, AI & Semiconductors, Aerospace & Defense, Sanctions & Regulation, Business & Politics.
Read more insights
U.S., Switzerland seal trade pact to cut duties to 15%, commit $200B Swiss investment
Washington and Bern have sketched a compact that trades steep, immediate tariff relief for a wave of Swiss capital into U.S. industry, and in doing so rewires the risk map for Swiss exporters that have spent most of 2025 on the wrong side of America’s tariff wall.
The framework trims U.S. duties on Swiss goods to 15% from 39%, with activation expected within days as customs systems catch up, and binds a headline pledge of $200 billion in Swiss investment by end-2028, including big previously announced outlays from Roche and Novartis.
Trump’s crude ambitions collide with refining reality
U.S. refiners are showing little appetite for the massive investments needed to retool their plants to process more American crude, presenting a major challenge to President Donald Trump’s push to supercharge domestic energy production and reduce reliance on foreign oil.
Despite Trump’s aggressive promotion of U.S. oil and gas output and his punitive tariffs on major suppliers like Canada and Mexico—ultimately exempting energy imports—the refining industry remains cautious. Industry executives, analysts, and refinery insiders say that most plants are structurally configured for heavier crude, the type historically imported from Canada and Mexico, and not for the lighter shale oil dominating U.S. output today.
Historic UAE-Vietnam CEPA opens doors to new trade, investment, and growth
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Vietnam have signed a historic Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), marking Vietnam’s first free-trade agreement with a Middle Eastern nation. The deal, signed by Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Dubai after a year of negotiations, aims to deepen trade ties…