Ammonium Nitrate (NH₄NO₃, 34% N)

NH₄NO₃: fertiliser-grade prills and granules at about 34% N, sold only to licensed buyers

The chemical formula of ammonium nitrate is NH₄NO₃: one ammonium ion (NH₄⁺) and one nitrate ion (NO₃⁻), with a molar mass of 80.04 g/mol, which works out at 35 per cent nitrogen by weight. Ammonium nitrate fertiliser does not come from a mine. It is made in a chemical plant by reacting ammonia with nitric acid (NH₃ + HNO₃ → NH₄NO₃), and the nitric acid is itself made from ammonia, so the product traces back to natural gas, air and water. The reaction gives a solution of about 83 per cent, which is evaporated to a melt of 95 to 99.9 per cent and then prilled in a tower or granulated in a drum. Two products come from that route. Fertiliser grade is a dense prill or granule sold at about 34 per cent nitrogen (34.4 per cent and 1 to 4 mm on producer sheets), half nitrate and half ammoniacal, made to absorb as little oil as possible. Technical grade, also called low-density or porous prill, is made porous on purpose for licensed mining and quarrying users, at a bulk density of about 0.74 to 0.84 g/cm³.

Ammonium nitrate is a regulated product wherever it trades. In transport it is an oxidiser: UN 1942 (ammonium nitrate with not more than 0.2 per cent combustible substances) and UN 2067 (ammonium nitrate based fertiliser) are both class 5.1, UN 2067 is a Group B cargo under the IMSBC Code and moves in bulk only with a resistance-to-detonation certificate, and compound fertilisers capable of self-sustaining decomposition travel as UN 2071, class 9. The European Union requires a fertiliser with 28 per cent or more nitrogen from ammonium nitrate to pass the detonation test and hold oil retention to 4 per cent, and bars its sale to the general public above 16 per cent nitrogen. Great Britain prohibits import and supply above 28 per cent nitrogen without a detonation-resistance certificate, Australia requires a licence to deal in it, and a number of countries restrict or ban straight ammonium nitrate and use calcium ammonium nitrate or urea instead. A sale therefore needs the buyer's import licence, an end-user statement naming the receiver and the use, and the storage approval the destination requires. Russia makes about a quarter of the world's ammonium nitrate and exports it under a government quota. Among reporting countries, 2024 export declarations under HS 3102.30 total about 4.1 million tonnes, led by the United States, Lithuania, Sweden, Egypt and Canada. CBIL brokers fertiliser-grade ammonium nitrate between a named producer and a named, licensed buyer, against SGS or Intertek inspection at loading, in bulk, 50 kg bags and big bags. Enquiries without the licence and end-user documents are not worked.

See also: Calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN 27% N): the limestone-diluted grade · Ammonium sulphate 21-0-0-24S · UAN solution 28 / 30 / 32

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Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.