Urea

Lanhua Sci-Tech announced that its 3.962 billion yuan investment in the Lanhua Coal Chemical energy-saving and environmental protection upgrade project is progressing in an orderly manner. Mechanical completion is expected on August 31, 2026, project handover on October 31, and completion with transition to trial production before December 31. The project uses Sedin Engineering's patented pressurized continuous gasification technology for crushed coal and lump coal. Once completed, it will have an annual production capacity of 490,000 tons of synthetic ammonia, 560,000 tons of urea, 94,400 tons of LNG, and 56,000 tons of 98% concentrated sulfuric acid. To fully advance the project, Lanhua Coal Chemical's existing production facilities stopped production in mid-August. At the same time, the Chemical Branch and Lanhua Clean Energy have also stopped production because their capacity quotas have been integrated into Lanhua Coal Chemical.

JPMorgan warns that fertilizer shortages could trigger a total global food supply crisis in 2027, with rising fertilizer prices potentially lifting global food inflation temporarily to 4-5%. Senior global economist Nora Szentivanyi expects the impact to appear after a considerable delay, as the Middle East supplies roughly 42% of global urea exports and 27% of ammonia exports, and the Iran conflict and closure of the Strait of Hormuz have disrupted those supplies. Nitrogen fertilizer prices rose between 25% and 50% from late February to April, and damaged fertilizer plants could take up to four years to restore. Ukraine's agricultural exports fell about 75% year over year during the first two weeks of August, and Ukrainian strikes have closed major grain terminals at Russia's Novorossiysk port. The USDA's July 2026 forecast shows food prices could jump as much as 12.3%, which would add about $98 a month to a household spending $800 monthly on groceries.