Middle East & South Africa Fertilizer Market Outlook 2027

South Africa is a dry land with less than 500mt of rainfall annually. It has a long coastline 3000 km from the desert border. Arable land in South Africa is 9.89% as of 2018 as per World Bank data. The region has limited agricultural potential and produces at much higher costs to attain same amount of produce as other countries. Only 12% of its 1.2 million square kilometres is suitable for cultivation of crops. Artificial lakes are used for crop irrigation. Majority of population are only upper secondary qualified, with less education and low skills the unemployment rate is very high in South Africa. And this populace is absorbed by mining and agriculture sector. Factors that affect are low credit ratings, land reforms, volatile exchange rates and weather conditions. It needs investment in technology to further boost agricultural produce. Fertilizer Association of Southern Africa has been formed for the fertilizer industry to collaborate traders, producers, blenders and distributing them. They also conduct trainings for soil fertility, plant nutrition, fertilizer advice and recommendations.

According to the research report Middle East & Africa Fertilizer Market Outlook, 2027 the fertilizer market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 3.81% by 2027. South Africa is expected to grow with a very slow growth rate over the forecast period. Less arable land and moderate temperatures results in repetitive use of fertilizers on same piece of land. Phosphatic fertilizers have a slow growth rate when compared to other fertilizers. The fertilizer raw materials are highly fragmented and unequally found around the world as a result of which the transportation costs are very high. Liquid fertilizers are expected to grow rapidly in this region during the forecast period.

The agricultural sector constitutes for 10% of exports like citrus, wine, grapes, corn, apples, wool, nuts, sugar, mohair, pears and other products. Whereas its imports include rice, wheat, palm oil, sunflower oil, whisky. Corn is grown on a large scale in South Africa with average of 15 million tonnes per annum from which 12 million tonnes are for local consumption and rest is exported. Wheat production is only about1.8 million tonnes which is quite low from its actual consumption. Farmers in this region switched their crops from wheat to more profit yielding crops like canola, corn, soybeans. South Africa's fertiliser industry is experiencing abundant year due to rising fertiliser prices and record maize production, which accounts for more than half of all fertiliser consumed. The sector is also faced with the threat of land expropriation and issues such as climate change which could increase the likelihood of drought in future years. Transport costs, electricity supply and exchange rate volatility also affect the sector. Additionally, the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic has negatively affected various industries. However, the fertilizer market demand was increased after the lockdown in the region.

Middle East region fertilizer market is anticipated to witness fast growth in the forecast years. The demand for fertilizers is led by ever increasing population and growing food demands. This increasing demand would mean increased productivity of crops that would further boost the demand for fertilizers. Middle East is a desert region with scarce land for agriculture. Still, they have achieved to convert these lands into farming land with technology and investments. It is one of the largest exporters of dates, wheat, fruits & vegetables and flowers. The agriculture has advanced due to interest free loans provided, technical support given, and incentives to seeds and fertilizer uses, low cost water resources, duty free raw material imports and machinery for farmers. Some of the major produce of this region is wheat, barley, sorghum, millet, tomatoes, watermelon, eggplant, potatoes cucumbers and onions and fruits like, oranges, and grapes. Large numbers of greenhouse were created to boost produce of tomatoes and cucumbers. Since Middle East countries have large produce of perishable crops they have good network of cold chain transport.

Due to pandemic, Agriculture in the United Arab Emirates was short of labour at the time of harvesting and input supply that hampered the production. The repeated lockdowns and shutdowns of processing units affected the supply chain and limited trade movements to other countries. Furthermore, lack of storage facilities resulted into huge losses of the country's produces. As the country is a tourist destination for luxurious resorts and places, the worldwide lockdowns, decreased the demand for fresh produce including cereals, fruits, and vegetables rampantly.

Major Companies present in the market

The Mosaic Company, Yara International, Nutrien Limited, K+S Aktiengesellschaft, OCP Group, CF Industries Holdings, Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (SQM), National Fertilizers Limited Coromandel International Limited, EuroChem Group, Wesfarmers, Indian Farmers Fertilizer Co-operative Limited (IFFCO)

Considered in this report

• Geography: Middle East & South Africa
• Base year: 2021
• Estimated year: 2022
• Forecast year: 2027

Aspects covered in this report

• Middle East & South Africa fertilizer market with its value and forecast along with its segments
• Country-wise fertilizer market analysis
• Various drivers and challenges
• On-going trends and developments
• Top profiled companies
• Strategic recommendation

Countries covered in the report

• United Arab Emirates
• Saudi Arabia
• South Africa

Types of fertilizer by nutrient in the report

• Nitrogenous fertilizer (Urea, ammonium sulphate, Calcium ammonium nitrate/ammonium nitrate, others UAN, anhydrous ammonia etc.)
• Phosphate fertilizer (Diammonium phosphate, monoammonium phosphate, others phosphate rock, superphosphates etc.)
• Potash fertilizer (Muriate of potash/potassium chloride, sulphate of potash others potassium nitrate etc.)
• Complex fertilizer (NPK, NK, PK, NP compounds etc.)

By Product type in the report:

• Urea
• Ammonium sulphate
• Calcium ammonium nitrate/Ammonium nitrate
• Di-ammonium phosphate (DAP)
• Mono-ammonium phosphate (MAP)
• Muriate of potash (MOP)/(KCl)
• Sulphate of potash (SOP)
• Complex (NPK, NK, PK, NP)

By physical formulation in the report:

• Dry
• Liquid

The approach of the report:

This report consists of a combined approach of primary as well as secondary research. Initially, secondary research was used to get an understanding of the market and listing out the companies that are present in the market. The secondary research consists of third party sources such as press releases, annual report of companies, analysing the government generated reports and databases. After gathering the data from secondary sources primary research was conducted by making telephonic interviews with the leading players about how the market is functioning and then conducted trade calls with dealers and distributors of the market. Post this we have started doing primary calls to consumers by equally segmenting consumers in regional aspects, tier aspects, age group, and gender. Once we have primary data with us we have started verifying the details obtained from secondary sources.

Intended audience

This report can be useful to industry consultants, manufacturers, suppliers, associations & organizations related to fertilizer industry, government bodies and other stakeholders to align their market-centric strategies. In addition to marketing & presentations, it will also increase competitive knowledge about the industry.