India's domestic fertiliser sales experienced a significant decline in August 2026, falling 10.33% to 6.51 million tonnes compared to the same month last year. According to reports from Business Standard, this decline was primarily attributed to the monsoon season continuing to play truant, with the cumulative all-India rainfall deficit recorded at 16.3% for August. Despite the overall sales decline, kharif acreage numbers showed resilience, remaining just around 1.45% lower than the same period last year and 0.72% less than the normal acreage average.
Among individual fertiliser categories, urea, India's most-consumed fertiliser, recorded sales of 4.21 million tonnes in August 2026, representing a 3.66% decrease from the previous year. As reported by Business Standard, di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) sales showed marginal improvement at 1.03 million tonnes compared to 0.98 million tonnes in August 2025. However, muriate of potash (MOP) and other complex fertilisers experienced more significant declines, with sales dropping 10% and 34% respectively in August 2026 compared to the same month last year.
Global fertiliser prices experienced substantial increases in August 2026, with sulphur prices jumping 262% compared to August 2025. According to Business Standard, ammonia prices rose approximately 23%, while phosphoric acid and rock phosphate rates increased by 18% and 0.52% respectively. These price increases have made domestic production of complex fertilisers, including DAP, significantly more expensive in August 2026 compared to the previous year, as India remains almost entirely dependent on other countries for raw material supplies. The average international price of imported urea was ₹3,200 per tonne in August 2026, the lowest in nine months since November 2025.
The declining fertiliser sales and international price trends are expected to have significant implications for India's subsidy calculations for FY27. As reported by Business Standard, the average international price of ₹3,200 per tonne for urea in August 2026 represents a 23.54% decrease compared to August 2025 and is substantially lower than the peak of around ₹950 per tonne recorded in May 2026 during the West Asia crisis. India imported close to 0.70 million tonnes of urea in August 2026, according to government data, which could influence the country's fertiliser subsidy requirements for the upcoming financial year.
