Top 10 Leading Ammonia Manufacturers in the Market, 2023

Did you know that global population reached 8 billion in November 2022? Interestingly, world population has risen by 1 billion people since 2010 alone! This stellar rise in global population has elevated the demand for food and generated the need to increase crop yield. Fertilizers play a crucial role in improving yield as they provide crucial nutrients such as phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium. The rising popularity of commercial agriculture will further elevate the usage of fertilizers thus driving ammonia market growth.

According to data provided by Fortune Business Insights, the global ammonia market size was valued at USD 67.01 billion in 2020. The market was valued at USD 71.98 billion in 2023 to USD 110.93 billion by 2028, showcasing a CAGR of 6.4 % during the forecast period.

Some of the leading manufacturers in the global ammonia market are:

1. Yara International ASA

Yara International ASA primarily focusses on the production and distribution of nitrogen-based mineral fertilizers and related industrial products. It also sells phosphate and potash-based mineral fertilizers, as well as complex and specialty mineral fertilizer products. The company traded nearly 2.0 million tonnes of ammonia worldwide. The company has manufacturing plants in Germany, Brazil, South Africa, Sweden, France and Malaysia and generated USD 16.6 billion in revenues in 2021.

2. BASF SE

BASF SE is a leading chemical manufacturer headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany that focusses on the production, marketing, and sales of plastics, chemicals, crop protection products, and performance products. The company’s product portfolio is divided into segments such as Performance Products, Chemicals, and Functional Materials & Solutions. The company has a strong presence in Asia Pacific, Europe, South America, the Middle East, Africa, and North America. The company generated USD 7,726.3 million in revenues in 2021.

3. CF Industries Holdings, Inc.

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. uses Haber-Bosch process to fix atmospheric nitrogen with hydrogen from natural gas to produce anhydrous ammonia. It manufactures approximately 9.5 and 10 million tons of ammonia annually at their manufacturing facilities. A portion of the ammonia is sold directly to industrial or agricultural customers. The company uses the remaining ammonia in manufacturing other products, such as UAN, urea, and diesel exhaust fluid. The company generated USD 917.0 million in revenue in 2021.

4. Nutrien Ltd

Nutrien Ltd is playing a critical role in helping growers boost food production in a sustainable manner. The company produces and distributes approximately 27 million tonnes of nitrogen, potash, and phosphate products worldwide. The company also provides agriculture solutions including merchandise products, crop protection and nutrient products, seed solutions and digital tools for crop growers. The company has a strong geographical presence in  U.S., Canada,  Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil, Argentina, China, India, other Latin American and Asian countries. The company has an annual production capacity of about 7 million tonnes. The company generated USD 27,712 million in revenue in 2021.

5. SABIC

SABIC is a manufacturer of a wide variety of chemicals, high performance plastics, agri-nutrients and metals. The company has a strong global presence in this market especially in the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific. The company generated USD 46.6 billion in revenue in 2021.

6. Koch Fertilizer LLC

Koch Fertilizer LLC is a manufacturer of fertilizer products. It offers products such as anhydrous ammonia, urea blends, urea, phosphate, ammonium nitrate solutions, potash, sulfur-based products and ammonium polyphosphate. It has the capacity to manufacture, distribute and market more than 13 million metric tons of fertilizer products annually. Koch Fertilizer LLC is wholly owned subsidiary of Koch Industries, one of the largest private companies in America.

7. Praxair Inc.

Praxair Inc. first started its operations in India in 1995 through a joint venture with Jindal Steel Works and built one of the largest air separation plants in the world in Bellary, Karnataka. The company offers ammonia in several purities and concentrations. Praxair also offers specialty gases, carbon dioxide, healthcare, surface technologies, and hard goods. The company has a strong global presence with more than 35 operating locations.

8. Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Limited (RCFL)

Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Limited (RCFL) is a leading chemicals and fertilizers manufacturer with approximately 75% of its equity held by the Government of India. RCFL focuses on the production of basic chemicals such as methanol, ammonia, methylamine, ammonium bicarbonate, ammonium nitrate, diluted and concentrated nitric acid, sodium nitrate, sulphuric acid, sodium nitrite, dimethyl actamide, dimethyl formamide, formic acid, argon etc. The recently modernized its Ammonia – I, Nitric Acid and Methanol plants at its Trombay unit.  This has facilitated the plants to sustain operations and meet technological challenges of improved efficiency, lower energy consumption, and maintain environmental norms.

9. Qatar Fertiliser Company

Qatar Fertiliser Company is a joint venture between the Government of Qatar and a number of foreign shareholders. The company offers various products such as ammonia, urea, melamine and more. It has 6 manufacturing plants that produce 3.8 million MT of ammonia and 5.6 million MT of urea annually. The company has two subsidiaries, namely Gulf Formaldehyde Company S.A.Q. and Qatar Melamine Company Q.S.C.C. QAFCO together with its subsidiaries is engaged in the production of ammonia, urea, melamine and formaldehyde condensates.

10. OCI Nitrogen

OCI Nitrogen is European company producing mineral fertilizers, ammonia, and melamine. The company’s fertilizers help improve agricultural productivity. It has a strong network for their products, with hubs in Europe, U.S., United Arab Emirates, Brazil, and China. The company’s distribution infrastructure includes a wholly owned ammonia export terminal at the port of Rotterdam, warehousing capacity across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, and rail car fleets in the U.S. and Europe, and others.

What Is The Future Of The Ammonia Market?

The ammonia market is projected to showcase positive trends as scientists are making significant efforts to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and reach the goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Ammonia is usually manufactured using nitrogen and hydrogen through the Haber Bosch Procedure which is responsible for 1.8% of the global CO2 emissions. Several researchers from renowned universities are experimenting with a new electrolysis method which uses similar amounts of energy and produces 2.8 tons of CO2 per ton of ammonia. The use of renewable sources of energy for electrolysis will produce zero carbon emissions thus cutting down on greenhouse gases emitted.