India's Minister of State for Fertilizer told the parliament on Friday that the South Asian powerhouse had imported 3.41 million tonnes of fertilizers from Russia from 1 April 2022 to 28 February 2023, the highest in the last three years.
"....import of urea in the current year up to February (during the ongoing Russia special military operation in Ukraine — ed.note) is more than double as compared to the previous year," Minister of State for Fertilisers Bhagwanth Khuba said in his written reply to the lower House of Parliament.
Sharing the impressive data, the minister specified that about 626,000 tonnes of urea, 765,000 tonnes of Diammonium Phosphate (DAP), 43,000 tonnes of Muriate of Potash (MoP), and 1.9 million tonnes of Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium (NPK) had been imported up till February 2023.
Meanwhile, total fertilizer imports from Russia in the fiscal year 2021-22 and 2020-21 stood at about 1.9 million.
Since last year, fertilizer prices jumped worldwide after Western countries imposed sanctions on Russia and Belarus over Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine.
As per media figures, both countries account for more than 40% of the total Potash exports.
Globally, Russia accounted for about 22% of ammonia exports, 14% of urea exports, and about 14% of monoammonium phosphate (MAP) - all key fertilizers.