US imports of urea from Russia were down 42% at 302,666 tonnes in January-April, according to the ICIS Supply and Demand Database.
Total US urea imports were at nearly 2.3m tonnes during the period, down 13% from over 2.6m tonnes in the same period of last year.
The decline comes despite Russian fertilizers being exempt from sanctions in the US, in contrast to Europe, which imposed sanctions on fertilizer imports after it invaded Ukraine.
Russian shipments were thin given financing issues and lack of vessel availability from Russian ports.
There are expectations of some increase in imports from Russia over the next few months as these issues are resolved.
In June, a Russian producer shipped a combination cargo of urea and urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) to the US to reduce inventory pressure, despite high freight costs and an antidumping duty on UAN.
Demand in the US has also been thin due to bad weather and delays in the spring application season.
US Urea Top Imports (tonnes)
January-April 2022
Country 2021 2022 Market share (%) Y-o-y change (%)
Qatar 538,350 448,701 20 -17
Oman 338,885 434,876 19 28
Russia 521,323 302,666 13 -42
Saudi Arabia 266,860 301,240 13 13
Algeria 330,968 219,299 10 -34
Canada 314,409 172,305 8 -45
Nigeria – 172,233 7 –
Netherlands 37,730 73,829 3 96
Bahrain 43,999 44,000 2 –
Mexico 279 41,882 2 –
Turkmenistan 31,600 1
Word Total0 2,640,990 2,298,990 – -13
In April, urea imports were at 702,468 tonnes, down 33% from just over a million tonnes in April 2021.
Russia shipped 110,138 tonnes to the US in April, down 56% from 252,369 tonnes in April 2021.