# Coronavirus impact hits western urea markets hard, east faring better for now

> Western urea markets weakened sharply in the week to 20 March as European demand dried up under quarantine measures. CFR prices fell, an Egyptian tender faltered, and Brazilian traders liquidated positions $20-25/t lower. The euro and the Brazilian real both weakened against the dollar, raising import costs.

- Date: 2020-03-20 · published 2020-03-20T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: macro · region Europe · magnitude medium
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/54426-coronavirus-impact-hits-western-urea-markets-hard-east-faring-better-for-now
- Commodities: [Urea](https://feedsoft.ai/c/UREA.md)

## Why it matters

Collapsing European and Brazilian demand, combined with currency depreciation, reduces import buying and pushes urea prices lower. Eastern markets are holding up better for now, which could keep the western discount in place.

## Read by commodity

- UREA: bearish ▼

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| UREA | 2023-03-20 | [Global Natural Gas Prices Keep Falling as Demand Weakens, Banking Crisis Weighs on Markets – LNG Recap](https://feedsoft.ai/events/37032-global-natural-gas-prices-keep-falling-as-demand-weakens-banking-crisis-weighs.md) | +0.3% | +13.2% |
| UREA | 2022-11-29 | [Europe: Nitrates prices decline following restarts; now nearing breakeven levels](https://feedsoft.ai/events/7856-europe-nitrates-prices-decline-following-restarts-now-nearing-breakeven-levels.md) | -4.0% | -7.5% |
| UREA | 2026-10-23 | [U.S. Natural Gas Futures Fall on Mild Near-Term Weather - WSJ](https://feedsoft.ai/events/626-u-s-natural-gas-futures-fall-on-mild-near-term-weather-wsj.md) | -0.1% | — |
| UREA | 2026-07-30 | [Brazil fertilizer deliveries seen falling at least 10%](https://feedsoft.ai/events/18687-brazil-fertilizer-deliveries-seen-falling-at-least-10.md) | -4.0% | -1.5% |
| UREA | 2023-03-24 | [US natgas prices slump after mild winter leaves big surplus \| Reuters](https://feedsoft.ai/events/37027-us-natgas-prices-slump-after-mild-winter-leaves-big-surplus-reuters.md) | -0.8% | +13.0% |

## Sources

- profercy.com: https://www.profercy.com/insights/coronavirus-impact-hits-western-urea-markets-hard-east-faring-better-for-now

---
Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.