Conflict in the Middle East, which supplied 80 percent of India’s
ammonia imports in 2025, disrupted regional supply earlier this year. The
resulting shortage pushed CFR prices on both India’s East Coast and West Coast
to a record high of 885 dollars per tonne in April, as buyers scrambled for
alternative cargoes amid tight availability. By August, prices on both Indian coasts
had slid to around the 500 dollar per tonne level, with West Coast India alone
dropping nearly 5 percent in a single day on August 13. The retreat marks a sharp reversal from a supply
driven rally into what is now a demand driven decline across the region.
Indian buyers are struggling to secure sulfur, a key raw material for
phosphate fertiliser production, which has curbed downstream ammonia demand
even as import availability has improved. This demand weakness in India is
spilling over into other East of Suez markets, keeping regional prices under
sustained pressure. Market watchers are
weighing whether a recovery in Indian buying interest can stabilise prices, or
whether continued weak demand will extend the downward pressure across the East
of Suez region in the months ahead. The sulfur scramble affecting phosphate
fertiliser output remains a key swing factor for the ammonia market’s near-term
direction.