Kazakhstan's Fertilizer Production in Crisis: Nitrogen Fertilizer Growth Stalled, Phosphate Fertilizer Production Soared 60%!

According to data provided by energyprom.kz, nitrogen fertilizer production in Kazakhstan reached 219,200 tons from January to July 2024, an increase of only 0.6 percent compared to the same period last year. Notably, production for the same period in 2023 was down 13.6%. At the same time, phosphate fertilizer production rebounded significantly, increasing by 60% year-on-year to a total of 14,600 tons, while phosphate fertilizer production fell by 13.9 times in the same period in 2023.

In the first half of 2024, domestic chemical plants met 42.2% of total nitrogen fertilizer demand (both domestic and export), up from 41.5% in 2023. During the same period, nitrogen fertilizer imports fell 5.3 percent to 257,300 tons. At the same time, nitrogen fertilizer exports increased fourfold to 126,200 tons, but nitrogen sales in the domestic market fell 26.4 percent to 319,300 tons.

The phosphate fertilizer market also showed strong growth momentum, with domestic production meeting 99.5% of demand and imports decreasing by 8.3% to only 73 tons. Phosphate fertilizer exports increased by 34.3 percent to 2,600 tons, and domestic market supply almost doubled to 11,300 tons.

In June 2024, fertilizer export prices increased by 2.8% year-on-year, in sharp contrast to the 3.4% price decline in 2023. This increase was mainly due to the increase in phosphate fertilizer export prices, which increased by 21.3% year-on-year, while nitrogen fertilizer export prices decreased by 0.4%.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the world's largest nitrogen fertilizer user in 2022 is Egypt, at 328.2 kg per hectare, followed by Turkmenistan (309.4 kg) and China (191.4 kg). In contrast, Kazakhstan uses only 2.4 kg of nitrogen fertilizer per hectare and 1.3 kg of phosphate fertilizer, one of the lowest levels of use in the world and close to war-affected countries such as North Korea, Sudan and Yemen.

Kazakhstan ranks last among Central Asian and Eurasian Economic Union countries in terms of both nitrogen and phosphate fertilizer use. Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan lead the way in nitrogen fertilizer use, while Belarus, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan lead the way in phosphate fertilizer use.