Nigeria exported over four million tons of excess production capacity of fertiliser in 2024, the Fertilizer Producers and Suppliers Association of Nigeria (FEPSAN) has disclosed.
Briefing journalists in Abuja on Thursday, the President of the Association, Sadiq Kassim, said although the total production capacity of the commodity from over 90 blending plants across the country was about six million tons per annum, farmers have not been able to procure and utilize more than two million tons.
Consequently, Kassim said the under-utilisation of available capacity of feeliser has left the country with about four million tons in excess that is being exported.
With this development, he said a review of the commodity exports data with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revealed that about $2.8 billion realisee from the export of fertiliser constituted one of the highest contributors to country’s over $5billion non-oil sector Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2024.
Despite the export of such huge excess volume of available capacity, Kashim assured Nigerians farmers that the Association was working with the relevant government agencies to provide adequate access to quality and affordable fertilizers as the 2025 farming season is about to commence.
He assured that the fertiliser industry in collaboration with key partners in government was putting measures in place to ensure the procurement and distribution of fertiliser to farmers was hitch-free.
“The association is grateful for the immense support that the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led government continues to give to ensure that investments in the Industry thrive, and more importantly farmers have timely access to affordable, quality fertilisers to boost agricultural productivity and ensure food security,” he said.
He said available pre-farming season data of fertiliser in the country show that the stock position of Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium (NPK), a key chemical component for fertiliser production, stands at 400,000 tons.
He said the in-country stock positions of other key ingredient raw materials at various blending plants across the country stand at about 80,000 tons of DAP; 60,000 tons of MOP; 114,000 tons of Granular Ammonium Sulphate (GAS), while urea, which is locally produced, would enable the plants to be restocked within week’s notice.
“The fertilizer industry in Nigeria mainly supplies the macronutrients in the form of Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium (K), blended into different formulations called NPK. Other nutrients, including Calcium (Ca), Sulphur (S), Zinc (Zn), Manganese (Mn), and Boron (B), are supplied through over 90 blenders spread across the country.
There are also three major producers of urea using the country’s natural gas resources. Thus, the country has adequate production capacity to meet the fertilizer needs of sub-Saharan Africa,” he said.
On the value proposition by the Association for the 2025 fertilizer season, the FEPSAN President disclosed that arrangements had already been made by the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI-NPK Ltd) for the continuous supply of about 150,000 tons each of MOP and GAS, with the first consignment expected to arrive by the end of April, along with about 100,000 tons of DAP.
“Blenders have put in requests for raw materials to blend over one million tons of NPK, based on the historical consumption figures from the past three years.
“This means that the industry is poised to push fertiliser consumption forward in line with the government’s agenda to double consumption in the next two years,” the FEPSAN president said.
On recent reports about the withdrawal of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) from the fertiliser supply initiative in the country, Kassim urged farmers not to worry about any disruption in the supply chain, as the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative (PFI) was being strengthened with the involvement of the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) to make the process more efficient to meet the demand of manufacturers and blenders in the country.
With the PFI-NPK Ltd established by the NSIA now fully operational, the FEPSAN President said it was well positioned to address the shortfall in fertilizer supply in the country.
However, he identified the issues of fertiliser affordability and product quality as the main areas of concern to the Association, assuring that they were working with the government on how to reduce the price of fertilizer and make it more affordable to farmers, while ensuring adequate enforcement of operational regulations.
“Today, there are about 90 registered members producing fertiliser across the country. We have pledged to meet all necessary regulatory requirements. But there are probably twice as many unregistered, unlicensed producers who are not covered under any regulatory framework, selling fertiliser to farmers, who, unaware, are often being sold fake products.
“While the farmer may think they are getting better value, they are not, because, upon investigation, it will be found that they have been sold counterfeit products.
