Four of Every Five Tonnes of Pakistan’s Urea Stock Belong to Engro Fertilizers

KARACHI: Pakistani farmers bought far more urea in September than a year ago, and the industry's stockpile is draining fast. One company still holds most of what remains.

Urea sales likely reached 611,000 tonnes in September 2026, up 43 percent year-on-year, according to brokerage estimates of industry data. Against August's 702,000 tonnes, volumes slipped 13 percent.

Neither swing tells the full story alone. The monthly dip largely reflects seasonality after August's peak fertilizer-application period for major Kharif crops including cotton, rice and sugarcane. The annual jump owes much to a weak September 2025. Working back from the growth rate, sales that month stood near 427,000 tonnes. Better crop activity added genuine demand on top, the brokerage said.

The bigger signal sits in the cumulative number. Sales for January to September should reach 4.4 million tonnes, up 5 percent. Through August, volumes had stayed flat at 3.8 million tonnes, Dawn reported. September effectively pushed cumulative growth back into positive territory.

Stockpile melts, one warehouse dominates

Industry inventory likely fell to 0.65 million tonnes in September, a nine-month low, from 0.75 million in August. July closed at 0.93 million. Roughly 280,000 tonnes left warehouses in two months.

Engro Fertilizers holds 519,000 tonnes of that stock. Fauji Fertilizer Company (FFC) has 88,000 tonnes and Fatima Group 29,000. Four of every five tonnes of urea sitting in Pakistan's warehouses belong to one producer.

Also Read: Engro Tops Pakistan’s Urea Market as August Sales Jump 18%

That stockpile once looked bigger. Engro's inventory hit 694,000 tonnes after it posted its weakest first-half urea sales in a decade, Focus Pakistan reported, citing National Fertilizer Development Centre data. Topline Securities blamed heavy push sales in late 2025 that pulled demand forward. Since June, Engro has brought its stock down by about 175,000 tonnes.

September helped. Engro's urea sales more than doubled year-on-year to 218,000 tonnes. Fatima matched the pace, also climbing 2.1 times to 102,000 tonnes. FFC grew a modest 10 percent but still sold the most, at 261,000 tonnes.

The nine-month table reads differently. FFC should finish the period up 11 percent at 2.2 million tonnes, half of all urea sold in Pakistan. Fatima gains 10 percent to 783,000 tonnes. Engro alone goes backwards, slipping 2 percent to 1.2 million tonnes despite September's surge.

DAP buying collapses

Phosphate tells the opposite story. DAP sales likely sank to 59,000 tonnes in September, down 39 percent from a year earlier and half of August's level. Nine-month volumes stand at 756,000 tonnes, down 5 percent.

FFC sold 34,000 tonnes of September's total and Engro 15,000. Across nine months, FFC moved 515,000 tonnes of DAP, more than two-thirds of the market. Engro managed 95,000.

Closing DAP stock sits near 259,000 tonnes, more than four times September's sales. With wheat sowing approaching, the coming Rabi demand cycle will test how quickly that inventory moves.

Modest year ahead

Pakistan urea production now enters an important Rabi period as industry inventories shrink and fertilizer demand shifts with the crop cycle. The brokerage expects urea sales to post modest growth across 2026, helped by improved crop prices. After a flat eight months, September's rebound gives that forecast its first real support.

Engro's warehouses will show how much of it lasts.