Russia can meet growing global demand for fertilizers - Peskov

MOSCOW. March 20 (Interfax) - Global demand for fertilizers is growing, and Russia is one of the few countries that can increase their supply on the market, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said commenting on media reports that New Delhi was negotiating with Moscow to increase fertilizer supplies.

"It's a commercial matter. After all, fertilizers are sold by individual companies and are purchased by individual companies. The only thing that can be said is that demand for fertilizers is growing," Peskov told reporters on Friday. He was asked whether Russia could increase fertilizer supplies to India this year and whether it has received such requests from the Indian government.

"Russia is one of the few countries that can increase supply on the market," he said.

Western media had reported earlier that India was negotiating with Russia, Belarus, and Morocco to increase fertilizer supplies out of worries about a possible shortage because of the conflict in the Middle East and shrinking exports from China.

Middle Eastern countries accounted for roughly half of India's diammonium phosphate (DAP) and urea imports. Saudi Arabia has long been India's largest supplier of DAP, and Oman of urea.

India currently has more fertilizer in stock than last year, but if the conflict in the Middle East continues, this could put farmers at risk of tightening supplies ahead of the summer planting season, a government source was quoted as saying. Therefore, India is in touch with Russia and other countries to increase supplies over the coming months, the source said.

According to India's Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the country increased its imports of Russian fertilizers by 41% to 6.5 million tonnes in 2025.

India's total fertilizer imports increased by 45%, exceeding 27.4 million tonnes last year. Russia was the largest supplier, followed by China, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and Oman.