New Delhi has warned Beijing to ease export restrictions, especially on urea and fertilizers, otherwise it will affect India's spring planting production!
Bloomberg reported that India has communicated with China, urging China to consider easing export restrictions. For a country with 1.4 billion people and a high proportion of agriculture, the next three months are a "life-or-death line" for the annual grain harvest. Urea, as the main source of nitrogen fertilizer, is the "blood" on this lifeline.
India is the world's largest importer of urea, and its domestic production is far from meeting demand. It has long relied on imports to supplement, with a considerable portion coming from the Middle East. According to the latest data, due to the interruption of supply from the Middle East, Indian fertilizer manufacturers currently can only obtain about 70% of their natural gas supply.
In India's natural gas distribution priorities, fertilizer production has always been in second place (behind residential use), and now even this "second place" guarantee has become an issue. Some companies have started to cut production or even shut down.
India's spring planting peak is concentrated between March and May, and planting and fertilization must be completed before the monsoon season (June). If this window period is missed, not only will the current crop yield decrease, but it may also trigger a chain reaction, affecting subsequent planting plans. Bloomberg's report pointed out that Indian officials have privately asked China to consider easing urea export restrictions, allowing some goods to be sold to India to relieve the urgent situation.
China is the world's largest producer of urea, with an annual production capacity of more than 85 million tons. In recent years, China has implemented strict quota management for urea exports, mainly to ensure domestic agricultural needs and stabilize market prices. On one hand, China itself is also in a critical period for preparing for spring planting, and the demand for urea by domestic farmers is also strong; on the other hand, facing the volatile international market, China tends to take a cautious approach, prioritizing ensuring domestic supply security.
Daguo thinks that under the circumstances where strategic mutual trust has not been fully established, any large-scale resource output is unrealistic. India's reason is that it is the second-largest producer of wheat and rice in the world, and its reduction in production would push up global food prices. But isn't this reason something that should be told to the United States across the ocean?
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1859513331416128/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.