Demand for urea from local customers remains weak, while coal prices stay high in the country. Some producers have already completed their turnarounds and have been forced to lower urea asking prices at home.
They have cut quotes for the prilled grade by CNY 25/t (4/t) to CNY 1,740—1,750/t (259—261/t) EXW China since last week. Domestic suppliers have also held those for the granular product at around CNY 1,890—1,900/t ($282—283/t) EXW China.
According to the up-to-date information, on 14 September 2026, the China Nitrogen Fertilizer Industry Association (CNFIA) finally issued the third package of urea export quotas totaling around 2—2.5 million t, 60% of which was reportedly allocated to distributors and 40% to Chinese producers. These quotas will be reportedly valid until January 2027.
Asking prices for the prilled variety have increased by $2.5/t (CNY 17/t) to $360—365/t (CNY 2,415—2,448/t) FOB China in bulk since last week. Those for granular urea have risen by $20/t (CNY 134/t) to $420—430/t (CNY 2,817—2,884/t) FOB China in bulk in the same period.
The gap between prilled and granular urea export prices continues to widen due to differences in demand. According to WFM’s sources, some suppliers have already sold out of the granular grade until the end of October. Most market players expect an Indian company to float a fresh urea purchase tender soon; otherwise, some Chinese companies may have to decrease their prilled urea quotes in both domestic and export markets.
As of 16 September, port stocks of the prilled and granular varieties amounted to 732,300 t, which is 29% lower than last week. Chinese producers had a total of 1.563 million t of the fertilizer in stock, a week-on-week decline of about 7%. Daily output has reportedly reached 196,100 t this week, up 3% from last one.The USD/CNY exchange rate was 6.707 on 16 September.
