NW Europe ammonia price hits 2025 high amid supply squeeze

The price of ammonia delivered to Northwest Europe surged to its highest level in 2025 as production disruptions across major supply hubs created a shortage of spot cargoes.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed CFR NW Europe ammonia duty paid/duty free at $605/mt Sept. 18, up $5/mt day over day. It is the highest price assessed since Dec. 18, 2024, and $15/mt higher than Sept. 18, 2024.

The price rose amid reports of an unconfirmed trade to NW Europe above $600/mt reported by a trader, while offers as high as $650/mt CFR duty paid/duty free were heard from a buyer.

The increase has been attributed to the scarcity of spot cargoes in and around NW Europe in recent months, with exports from important hubs like North Africa and Trinidad & Tobago interrupted, and the ongoing wait for the start-up of the new Gulf Coast Ammonia plant in the US Gulf.

Production in other important supply regions like the Middle East and Southeast Asia has also been slow due to several planned and unscheduled maintenance shutdowns.

"You have to work really hard to find a cargo, and then when you get it, it's expensive, and then you don't sell it for cheap," a European supplier said.

"There's no supply - even traditional players are struggling," a trader said.

Despite the supply constraints, European domestic production has benefited from a period of softer natural gas pricing, which has helped contain production costs. The gap between estimated domestic production costs and import prices has widened to approximately $160/mt, providing European producers with improved margins.

A trader noted earlier in the week that the "affordable gas" environment had resulted in "a lot" of ammonia and fertilizers being produced domestically, though not all of this production has been sold yet.

The same trader expressed skepticism about the sustainability of current price levels, saying, "Not sure current price levels are acceptable for long."