# Viewpoint: Urea market hinges on China, imports in 1Q | Latest Market News

> US granular urea ended 2017 at about $260/st fob New Orleans, a one-year high and a $100/st rise over the second half. Unexpected Chinese supply shortages and renewed Indian buying drove the gain ahead of the 2018 spring season. New US urea capacity, including Koch's 900,000 st/yr plant, is expected to add supply in early 2018.

- Date: 2017-12-26 · published 2017-12-26T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: trade · region China · magnitude medium
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/67421-viewpoint-urea-market-hinges-on-china-imports-in-1q-latest-market-news
- Commodities: [Urea](https://feedsoft.ai/c/UREA.md)

## Why it matters

China's cut in urea exports and idled gas-based plants remove an estimated 500,000-600,000t from the global market, supporting prices. Whether that tightness lasts into 2018 will largely decide whether US urea keeps rising despite new domestic capacity.

## Read by commodity

- UREA: bullish ▲

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| UREA | 2026-01-07 | [Middle East granular urea sold in high $410s/t fob \| Latest Market News](https://feedsoft.ai/events/21365-middle-east-granular-urea-sold-in-high-410s-t-fob-latest-market-news.md) | +1.5% | +16.3% |
| UREA | 2020-06-22 | [Urea market stages recovery on buying interest in Latin America and Africa](https://feedsoft.ai/events/52542-urea-market-stages-recovery-on-buying-interest-in-latin-america-and-africa.md) | +2.3% | +6.2% |
| UREA | 2024-05-28 | [China Absence, India Tender Creates Urea Market Rally \| CZ app](https://feedsoft.ai/events/30180-china-absence-india-tender-creates-urea-market-rally-cz-app.md) | -2.7% | +4.2% |
| UREA | 2025-06-30 | [India Tender Supports Volatile Urea Market \| CZ app](https://feedsoft.ai/events/24144-india-tender-supports-volatile-urea-market-cz-app.md) | +7.9% | +11.8% |
| UREA | 2020-11-20 | [AgroPages-Urea market fed by the hand of India-Agricultural news](https://feedsoft.ai/events/50467-agropages-urea-market-fed-by-the-hand-of-india-agricultural-news.md) | +9.4% | +7.9% |

## Sources

- argusmedia.com: https://www.argusmedia.com/en/news-and-insights/latest-market-news/1597152-viewpoint-urea-market-hinges-on-china-imports-in-1q

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