Granular Urea Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends & Forecasts (2025 - 2030)

Global Granular Urea Market Trends and Insights

Rising Demand for Nitrogen-based Fertilizers

Global fertilizer-consumption curves continue rising as farmers intensify production to feed a world population that the United Nations projects will reach 9.8 billion by 2050 ^{[1]United Nations, “World Population Prospects 2024,” un.org}. In the United States, corn plantings climbed 6% in 2024, keeping nitrogen demand strong because 88% of domestic ammonia output is channeled into fertilizers. Brazil posted a record 6.15 Billion-bushel soybean harvest in the 2024-25 season, underscoring the link between expanding acreage and the granular urea market. India’s reliance on imported urea remains high, yet mechanization is encouraging a faster switch from dusty prills to free-flowing granules that boost application accuracy. Even as precision systems trim per-acre fertilizer rates, the net effect stays expansionary because total planted hectares keep climbing, especially in developing regions.

Expansion of Global Agricultural Acreage

South America illustrates how new cropland influences the granular urea market. Brazil’s competitive Real and logistics upgrades outlined in the National Logistics Plan aim to cut inland freight costs by 30%, encouraging farmers to convert pasture to row crops. Africa also holds untapped potential; field trials show that modern inputs could lift regional nutrient use by at least 5%, with a commensurate pull on nitrogen volumes. In China, aggregate acreage is still increasing despite government programs promoting lower per-hectare nitrogen rates. Infrastructure investments, from irrigation in India to grain-rail corridors in Argentina, further enlarge cultivation zones and cement demand for granular urea.

Government Subsidies and Support for Fertilizer Use

Large-scale public funding stabilizes fertilizer demand. India operates the Direct Benefit Transfer system that reimburses suppliers once farmers purchase regulated fertilizers, and it continues to authorize state-run companies to import urea through at least March 2025. Brazil employs concessional credit lines that increase fertilizer affordability when global prices spike. In the United States, the Department of Agriculture earmarked USD 900 Million in grants to expand domestic fertilizer capacity following supply shocks in 2022. Such policies cushion growers against price swings and contribute to a baseline of predictable tonnage for the granular urea market.

Shift to Granular Over Prilled Urea for Better Handling

Granular urea particles measure 2–4 mm, a size that resists dusting and caking, which translates to easier storage, safer handling, and more consistent spread patterns. Indian distributors report sharply lower product losses after shifting warehouse inventories from prills to granules in 2024. Modern variable-rate applicators can meter granules precisely, reducing striping in row crops and improving yield uniformity. The physical robustness of granules also supports downstream coating processes that enable controlled-release products, a segment growing at double the total granular urea market CAGR in developed economies.

Volatile Natural-Gas and Ammonia Feedstock Costs

European producers curtailed nitrogen output in 2024 when Dutch Title Transfer Facility prices spiked above EUR 45 per megawatt-hour, demonstrating how energy costs cascade through to urea pricing. Ammonia feedstock can represent up to 80% of urea plant operating costs, so every USD 1 per MMBtu change in gas translates to roughly USD 20 per ton change in finished-urea cash costs. Energy-hedging programs and multi-year supply contracts soften some volatility, yet short-term price swings still suppress margins and, during severe spikes, force temporary closures that remove tonnage from the granular urea market.

Environmental Impacts of Nitrate Leaching and Eutrophication

The European Union (EU) Nitrates Directive caps allowable nitrogen applications and requires water-quality monitoring that has already lowered blanket fertilizer rates in Denmark and the Netherlands. ^{[2]European Commission, “Nitrates Directive—Implementation Report,” europa.eu} Peer-reviewed field trials in Spain show synthetic urea can leach nitrates at rates 30% higher than organic amendments, especially in irrigated vegetables. In China, urea use still sits 33% above the global safety threshold, and the agriculture ministry attributes 16% of national agricultural greenhouse-gas emissions to fertilizer N₂O in 2024. Waterway eutrophication in the US Great Lakes prompts stricter state rules encouraging controlled-release or inhibitor-enhanced formulations. These environmental constraints nudge demand toward efficiency-oriented products but may limit absolute tonnage growth where regulation is most stringent.

Segment Analysis

By Grade: Agricultural Applications Drive Volume Growth

Agricultural Grade dominated the granular urea market in 2024 with 78.17% share, anchored by its role in meeting staple-crop nutrient requirements across Asia and South America. That share equates to nearly 128.5 Million tons in 2025, highlighting the largest single sink within the granular urea market size. Even with regulatory headwinds, sustained food-security programs underpin steady gains, and the adoption of precision application tools adds stickiness to demand because granules meter accurately at sub-meter resolution. Launching coated low-emission granules adds a value premium without eroding baseline volume.

Industrial Grade sits at a lower base yet posts the fastest growth, clocking a 2.28% CAGR through 2030 as resins, adhesives, and formaldehyde-derivative production scale up in China, India, and the Gulf. Though cooling from 2022 highs, North American housing starts remain solid and support urea-formaldehyde insulation-foam consumption. Innovation continues on ultra-pure grades for semiconductor photoresists, a niche but lucrative off-take. Collectively, these factors help Industrial Grade capture incremental slices of granular urea market share as it edges past the 40 Million-ton mark by decade’s end.

By Application: Industrial Segment Emerges as Growth Driver

Agricultural use retained a 68.66% share in 2024, amounting to 112.9 Million tons out of the overall granular urea market size, with cereals and grains accounting for two-thirds of that volume. Using variable-rate technology ensures granules reach roots efficiently; yield-map data show 5-7% fertilizer savings on US corn while maintaining output. Fruits and vegetables growers turn to controlled-release blends that reduce leaching, especially in greenhouse settings.

Industrial applications, though smaller, expand at a 2.35% CAGR. Adhesives and resins rely on urea as a critical cross-linking agent, and capacity additions in Asia and Eastern Europe underpin volume growth. Chemical intermediates such as melamine further widen industrial off-take. The result is a gradual rebalancing: by 2030, Industrial applications will approach 34% of the granular urea market, underscoring diversification away from purely farm-driven demand cycles.

Geography Analysis

Asia-Pacific commanded 46.18% of global volume in 2024, translating to about 76 Million tons, and leads growth at a 2.19% CAGR. China’s temporary export quotas stabilize domestic supply, while India’s imports rose 13% in 2025 despite subsidy-budget constraints. Australia set an import record at 3.35 Million tons in the first eight months of 2024 after local plant closures, illustrating how weather and capacity outages quickly swing regional trade flows.

North America benefits from low-cost shale gas, enabling globally competitive fob costs that underpin exports to Latin America. CF Industries alone holds roughly 42% of regional granulation capacity and achieved USD 2.28 Billion adjusted EBITDA in 2024. The United States also pilots carbon-capture projects attached to existing ammonia-urea lines, positioning the region to sell low-carbon product into premium markets once carbon-footprint labeling standards formalize.

Europe faces twin hurdles of elevated energy prices and tightening environmental caps. High gas costs forced ammonia production curtailments equal to 2.9 Million tons of urea in 2024, prompting imports from Algeria, Egypt, and Qatar despite looming CBAM tariffs. Eastern Europe, especially Poland and Romania, retains cost advantages from pipeline gas access, partially offsetting Western shutdowns.

South America, led by Brazil and Argentina, continues rapid farmland conversion as rail and port build-outs compress inland basis values. The region’s urea demand grows 2.6% annually, slightly above the global granular urea market CAGR. Middle East and Africa leverage abundant natural gas, with Saudi Arabia and Qatar exporting nearly one-third of global seaborne urea while Egypt ramps domestic consumption through irrigation megaprojects.