India Fertilizer Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The Indian fertilizer market is projected to register a CAGR of 11.9% during the forecast period 2022-2027.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Indian fertilizer market has been low, as the national government exempted this sector from lockdown restrictions. However, the sector faced challenges due to a shortage of labor and raw materials, which affected shipments during the initial lockdown. The Indian government took measures to ensure fertilizers were available to farmers amid the lockdown, resulting in increased fertilizers sales. India is the second-largest consumer of fertilizers globally, with an annual consumption of more than 55 million ton.

Over the long term, increasing agricultural production to meet the food demand of the country’s growing population is expected to drive the demand for fertilizers. Among the various types of fertilizers used in India, urea, a nitrogen source, is one of the most consumed fertilizers. In 2020, urea consumption in India amounted to over 33 million ton compared to other fertilizers, and the consumption volume of urea was the highest across the country that year, followed by diammonium phosphate (DAP), according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (India).

Key Market Trends

Increasing Agricultural Production

According to the Indian Economic Survey 2021-2022, the country's agriculture sector’s gross value added (GVA) experienced growth over the previous two years. It grew at 3.9% in 2021-22 and 3.6% in 2020-21. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, the production in the country increased despite the area under cultivation decreasing. Rice production increased from 177.6 million ton in 2019 to 178.3 million ton in 2020, while wheat production increased from 103.5 million ton in 2019 to 107.5 million ton in 2020. Good monsoon, various government measures to enhance credit availability, improve investments, create market facilities, promote infrastructure development, and increase the provision of quality inputs to the sector helped increase the sector’s productivity.

Increased Production of DAP and Complex Fertilizers

Urea is the majorly consumed fertilizer in India, followed by DAP. According to the Department of Fertilizers of India, the production of DAP and complex fertilizers is increasing in the country. In 2019, the production of DAP reached 3.9 million ton, and the production of complex fertilizers reached 9 million ton. The increase in production resulted in the decline of DAP imports by 26% in 2019. The production of DAP increased between 2017 and 2018 when the global prices for phosphate raw materials fell. This boosted the production of DAP in the country, owing to the higher demand for fertilizers. As of March 2019, 21 units in India produced DAP and complex fertilizers. In September 2021, the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers instructed IFFCO and other fertilizer companies in the country to quicken the production of Nano DAP (diammonium phosphate) and set a target to produce the fertilizer within a year and reduce the country's dependence on imports.

Competitive Landscape

The Indian fertilizer market is consolidated, with the presence of major players, such as Coromandel International Limited, Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative (IFFCO), Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT), Deepak Fertilizers Limited, and Chambal Fertilizers Limited, among others. The market is fragmented, with a mix of government-owned and co-operatives garnering a high market share in the straight and complex fertilizer space and private companies engaged in a high degree of product innovation to tap the non-subsidy space.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support

This product will be delivered within 2 business days.