South Korea considers domestic urea production

South Korean government has laid out plans to support the domestic production of urea, aiming to fundamentally prevent the repeated shortages of urea from China. In 2023, China temporarily suspended urea exports to South Korea. The main reason is Korea’s heavy reliance on Chinese urea, which currently surpasses 90%. 

The problem is the high domestic production cost of urea more than 30% higher than in China. To produce the annual amount of urea consumed domestically, which stands at 90,000 tons or millions of dollars, in government funds will be needed. The government is reportedly deliberating partial funding for urea producers’ manufacturing facilities and operation costs.