Fertilizer Shipping

What is fertilizer as a sea-borne cargo?

Fertilizer is a family of agricultural input cargoes carried in bulk by sea, covering nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium products and their compound blends. The dominant individual grades are urea (a nitrogen fertilizer), diammonium phosphate or DAP (a phosphate fertilizer), potassium chloride or potash (a potassium fertilizer), and ammonium nitrate based blends.

Each grade has its own stowage factor, density, hygroscopic profile, and regulatory regime. The IMSBC Code 2024 covers fertilizer through multiple schedule entries. UREA, DIAMMONIUM PHOSPHATE, and POTASSIUM CHLORIDE sit in Group C. Ammonium nitrate based fertilizer splits across two schedules under the current Code. Product that stays within the Code’s composition limits sits in AMMONIUM NITRATE BASED FERTILIZER, Group C. Product that exceeds those limits sits in AMMONIUM NITRATE BASED FERTILIZER MHB, Group B, hazardous only in bulk due to self-sustaining decomposition risk under heat.

The operational picture therefore splits in two. The bulk of fertilizer trade is straightforward Group C carriage where hygroscopic control and dust management dominate. A smaller share is AN-based product that exceeds the composition limits, where IMSBC MHB Group B chemistry, temperature monitoring, and the IMO CCC.1/Circ.4 guidance on self-decomposition and fire govern carriage. Owners that compete in fertilizer trades typically segment the fleet by which sub-trades they are prepared to accept.

Fertilizer cargo properties

Property	Value	Unit / Reference
Stowage factor (urea)	1.20 to 1.40	m3/t
Stowage factor (DAP)	0.85 to 0.95	m3/t
Stowage factor (potash, KCl)	0.80 to 0.95	m3/t
Stowage factor (AN-based)	0.85 to 1.10	m3/t
Bulk density (urea)	0.75 to 0.85	t/m3
Bulk density (DAP)	0.95 to 1.00	t/m3
Bulk density (potash)	1.05 to 1.15	t/m3
Angle of repose	28 to 40 (varies by grade)	degrees
IMSBC group (urea, DAP, potash)	C	Not liable to liquefy, not chemically hazardous
IMSBC group (AN-based, hazardous)	MHB Group B	Hazardous only in bulk, self-decomposition risk
IMSBC schedule (urea)	UREA	IMSBC Code 2024
IMSBC schedule (phosphate)	DIAMMONIUM PHOSPHATE	IMSBC Code 2024
IMSBC schedule (potash)	POTASSIUM CHLORIDE	IMSBC Code 2024
IMSBC schedule (AN-based)	AMMONIUM NITRATE BASED FERTILIZER (Group C) and AMMONIUM NITRATE BASED FERTILIZER MHB (Group B)	IMSBC Code 2024
Transportable moisture limit	Not applicable for Group C grades	AN-based MHB has temperature, not TML, controls
Hazard profile (AN-based MHB)	Self-sustaining decomposition under heat	IMO CCC.1/Circ.4 decomposition and fire guidance

Urea is the highest-volume single grade and is the cargo most operators have in mind when they say fertilizer on a fixture call. The density range across the family is wide. Potash at 1.10 t per cubic metre stows roughly half the cube of urea, which materially changes the parcel size a given vessel can carry. See stowage factor and the stowage guide for the cube and density mechanics.

Vessel typing and parcel sizes

Hold cleanliness is required but the standard is industrial, not food-grade. Holds must be clean, dry, and free of prior cargo residue that would contaminate the agricultural product. The dominant operational concern is hygroscopic care for urea and AN-based grades, and dust control for potash, especially at urban discharge ports where shore-side dust complaints can suspend cargo work. See Panamax, Supramax, and Handymax for the dominant classes and Handysize for the smaller receivers.

How fertilizer ships in practice

Hold preparation is industrial-grade dry and clean, with bilges dry and any prior cargo residue removed. Surveyors check both the holds and the SDS or product specification supplied by the shipper. For hazardous AN-based fertilizers, the master must hold the IMSBC MHB Group B documentation and confirm crew competence for the carriage requirements set out in the schedule.

Loading is mechanical. Shore conveyors and trippers fill the holds, with care taken to keep the cargo even and to limit dust release at urban ports. The shipper issues an SDS, the IMSBC schedule reference, and the cargo specification. For AN-based product, the shipper also declares which schedule applies, Group C or MHB Group B, against the Code’s composition limits, with the self-decomposition test result where applicable.

Voyage care is hygroscopic for urea and AN-based fertilizers, dust-control oriented for potash, and temperature-monitoring for AN-based product. Urea absorbs ambient moisture and forms hard cakes if ventilation is mismanaged. Hazardous AN-based fertilizers require temperature checks at fixed intervals, with the master logging hold temperatures and noting any rise that could indicate the onset of self-decomposition under IMO CCC.1/Circ.4 guidance.

Discharge is by shore grab and ground hopper for urea and DAP, with enclosed conveyor or vacuum systems for potash at dust-sensitive receivers. Final survey covers moisture, caking, dust loss, and contamination. For AN-based product, discharge is conducted with no source of heat or sparks in proximity, and any residue is removed cleanly to prevent contamination of the next cargo. See demurrage and the contract of affreightment page for the time-counting and multi-shipment structures common in fertilizer trades.

Major trade routes

The fertilizer trade is structurally concentrated on a small number of origin countries, with Russia and Belarus dominant on urea and potash, Morocco on phosphate, the Middle East on urea and DAP, Canada on potash, and the US Gulf on a mix of grades.

• Russia and Belarus to global receivers. Urea and potash on Panamax and Supramax. Baltic ports including Ust-Luga, St Petersburg, Klaipeda, and Black Sea ports including Yuzhny, into Latin American, African, and Asian receivers.
• Morocco to North Africa and Europe. Phosphate rock and DAP on Panamax and Supramax. Jorf Lasfar and Casablanca to Mediterranean, European, and African receivers.
• Middle East to India and Asia. Urea and DAP on Panamax and Supramax. Saudi Arabian (Jubail, Dammam), Qatari (Ras Laffan, Mesaieed), Omani (Sohar), and Iranian (Bandar Imam) loadings into Indian, Bangladeshi, and Southeast Asian receivers.
• US Gulf to Latin America. Urea, DAP, and AN-based product on Supramax and Handysize. New Orleans area and Houston into Brazilian, Argentinian, and Caribbean receivers.
• Canada to Asia. Potash on Panamax and Capesize. Vancouver region (Neptune Terminals, Pacific Coast Terminals) to Chinese, Indian, Japanese, and South Korean receivers.
• China to Southeast Asia. Urea, DAP, and NPK blends on Supramax and Handysize. Yangtze River and Pearl River delta ports to Indonesian, Vietnamese, and Thai receivers.

Fertilizer vs grain

Fertilizer and grain compete for the same Panamax and Supramax fleet, both move as free-flowing bulk on most schedules, and both are sensitive to moisture. The differences are about regulatory regime, hold standard, and hygroscopic intensity.

Within fertilizer, urea and potash sit at opposite ends of the density and operational spectrum. Urea is light, hygroscopic, and forgiving on hold standard. Potash is dense, dust-prone at discharge, and forgiving on hygroscopic care. DAP sits between the two. Hazardous AN-based product is a different operational regime that requires MHB Group B competence and temperature monitoring under CCC.1/Circ.4.

Select grain when the cargo is cereal seed and the operation centres on the grain code, fumigation, and the food-grade survey. Select fertilizer carriage when the receiver is agricultural and the focus shifts to hygroscopic control, dust, and, for AN-based grades, the self-decomposition regime. See grain shipping for the parallel page.

Reference example

01 Fixture Example

Panamax Urea, Arabian Gulf to India

Cargo

Granular urea, 46 percent nitrogen, IMSBC Group C

Lane

Arabian Gulf to West Coast India

Vessel band

Panamax, 76,000 dwt class

Parcel size

55,000 t, 10 percent more or less in owners option

Load rate

8,000 t per weather working day

Discharge rate

4,000 t per weather working day, two berths combined

Laytime

Reversible, see voyage charter party

Charter party form

FERTICON 2007

Notable clause

Holds presented clean and dry. SDS and IMSBC schedule reference on board prior to NOR. Moisture and hygroscopic protection provisions including ventilation log to be tendered on arrival.

The fixture above is anonymised. It represents the dominant Middle East to India Panamax urea pattern, with the SDS, the IMSBC schedule reference, and the ventilation log as the gating operational documents.

Image Placeholder Panamax bulk carrier loading granular urea at an Arabian Gulf fertilizer terminal Stylised image: Panamax at a Middle East urea export berth, ship-shore conveyor, ambient dust haze, evening light.

Common loading and discharge issues

• Urea hygroscopic clumping on long voyages, where humid hold air drives moisture absorption and the cargo arrives partly caked, resisting shore grabs and triggering moisture and shortage claims.
• DAP self-heating in transit, especially where the cargo was loaded at elevated temperature directly from the production plant without adequate cooling, leading to monitoring and ventilation responses on board.
• Potash dust restrictions at urban discharge ports, where shore-side complaints suspend cargo work and laytime exposure builds, with enclosed conveyor or vacuum discharge sometimes specified in the charter party.
• AN-based fertilizer schedule misclassification by the shipper, where the cargo is declared as the Group C schedule but the loaded product exceeds the composition limits and belongs in MHB Group B, with consequences for the IMSBC regime and the temperature monitoring obligation on board.
• Wet weather suspensions at loading. Open conveyor loading of urea and DAP is suspended on rain, and laytime stops under most charter parties.
• Prior cargo residue contamination, where the receiver finds traces of coal, sulphur, or another fertilizer in the discharged parcel and claims against the load-port surveyor’s clean-hold certificate.

Scope and what this page does not cover

This page is an operational and cargo-spec briefing on sea-borne fertilizer. It does not forecast urea, DAP, or potash prices, it does not publish freight indices, and it does not offer broker-desk opinion on individual fertilizer fixtures. Jurisdiction-specific case law on fertilizer claims, particularly around AN-based product incidents, is outside the scope of this page and should be referred to qualified maritime counsel. For commercial pricing and current fertilizer fixture flow, contact the dry cargo desk directly.