By Li Dandan, CNCIC

By July 18, 2022, the number of domestic special fertilizer products registered had reached 22 677, mainly involving water soluble fertilizers accounting for around 64%, slow release fertilizers, bio-organic fertilizers, soil conditioners, etc., according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. More than 5 000 special fertilizer firms had been registered, with water soluble fertilizer producers taking up around 70%. They have been improving innovation ability, leading to registration of a large number of new products. Table 1 shows the number of domestic special fertilizer products registered. Special fertilizers made up 20% of China’s total fertilizer consumption in 2021, higher than before and forecast to increase continually (see Figure 1 for details).

      Note: Filing replacing registration applies to water soluble fertilizers containing macroelements, secondary elements or microelements.

Figure 1 Consumption proportions of China’s different special fertilizers in 2021

Water soluble fertilizers

Water soluble fertilizers – like elemental water soluble fertilizers, water soluble compound fertilizers, leaf fertilizers, etc. – are most widely used special fertilizers, and the number of related registration and filing increased year by year, mainly because of policies to realize zero growth in fertilizer usage, replace chemical fertilizers with organic fertilizers, etc. Since September 30, 2020, some functional water soluble fertilizers – i.e. water soluble fertilizers containing amino acid, humic acid or trace elements – have been required to be registered; filing, instead of registration, has applied to nutrient water soluble fertilizers, more specifically, water soluble fertilizers with macroelements, secondary elements or trace elements. Figure 2-4 and Table 2 show more details.

Figure 2 Registration of water soluble fertilizers in 2022

Figure 3 Consumption proportions of China’s different nutrient water soluble            fertilizers in 2021

Figure 4 Consumption proportions of China’s different biostimulants in 2021

China’s output of narrow-sense water soluble fertilizers reached around 1.6 million tons in 2021, and is forecast to continue to increase. Improvement in protected agriculture and water-efficient agriculture is driving consumption of water soluble fertilizers, especially products containing macroelements, amino acid or humic acid. Fruit trees and vegetables currently remain major application areas of water soluble fertilizers, but consumption in food crops (e.g. potatoes and corns) grew year by year – a signal of transition from cash crops to field crops.

Slow and controlled release fertilizers

At present, domestic capacity of slow and controlled release fertilizers is 8.2 million t/a, and the output is forecast to grow 5% annually from 2021 to 2025. Thirty-nine slow release fertilizer products, mainly coated urea particles, had been registered by July 18, 2022. The slow and controlled release fertilizers were mainly consumed by food crops (e.g. corns and wheat), and related consumption is expected to grow stably in the next five years, given customized fertilization formulas and plans of food crops. Further, cash crops like garlics and blueberries are likely to increase demand for the slow and controlled release fertilizers.

Soil conditioners

The nation’s seriousness about improving quality of cultivated land greatly propelled domestic soil conditioner industry. In detail, by July 18, 2022, 126 soil conditioner firms had been registered and the number of registered products had reached 218, with 177 of them applying to soil pH adjustment and 20 to improvement of saline-alkali soil.

Further trends

     China’s special fertilizer industry developed rapidly, and some firms like MONBAND and FONDIN could produce water soluble fertilizers that rival foreign brands. As for future trends, domestic special fertilizers will be more high-end, and foreign products – focusing on cash crops in the past – will be increasingly more used in field crops. Further, domestic special fertilizer enterprises will expand scope of services and upgrade service quality.