Granular Urea CIF the European Union: Imports, CBAM, Duty and REACH
The EU imported 6.53 Mt of solid urea from outside the Union in 2025; in January to August 2026 it took 2.04 Mt
Since 1 January 2025 the Combined Nomenclature splits urea into solutions (3102 10 12 and 3102 10 15), solid urea above 45% N (3102 10 19) and lower-nitrogen urea (3102 10 90). Extra-EU imports under the whole of 3102 10 were 7,412,286 t in 2025, worth EUR 2.90 billion, against 5,978,676 t in 2024; solid urea, the granular and prilled fertiliser and technical grades, was 6,527,668 t at an average EUR 387/t. Egypt supplied 2,816,805 t (43.2%) at EUR 400/t and Algeria 983,483 t (15.1%) at EUR 399/t; Uzbekistan (3.2%), Nigeria (3.1%), Turkmenistan (2.8%), Oman (2.5%) and China (1.0%) followed, and other origins the balance. Imports reached 1,339,466 t in December 2025, the month before CBAM's definitive period, and 85,767 t in January 2026. From January to August 2026 the EU took 2,041,630 t at EUR 487/t, against 3,881,478 t at EUR 382/t a year earlier; Egypt supplied 59.8%, Algeria 15.4%, Turkmenistan 5.7% and Nigeria 4.0%, and the monthly average rose to EUR 649/t in May before easing to EUR 448/t in August. In 2025 Poland (17.5%), France (17.0%), Romania (13.7%), Italy (12.5%) and Spain (11.4%) declared most of the tonnage; in 2026 to date Italy (20.6%), France (19.1%) and Spain (12.4%) lead.
CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers granular urea (46% N) CIF or CFR EU discharge ports in Handysize and Supramax lots, with SGS or Intertek certification at load. The conventional duty is 6.5%. Origins with trade agreements already enter at 0%, among them Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine, Georgia, Trinidad and Tobago (CARIFORUM), the GSP+ countries including Uzbekistan, and from 1 July 2026 the United States. Council Regulation (EU) 2026/1181 suspends the duty within a tariff quota of 890,000 t (order 09.0173) from 30 May 2026 to 31 May 2027, claimed with TARIC certificate Y071, a declaration that the goods do not fall under Regulation (EU) 2025/1227, which sets separate duties for two origins: 6.5% plus EUR 60/t from 1 July 2026, EUR 80/t from 1 July 2027 and EUR 315/t from 1 July 2028. CBAM applies from 1 January 2026: only an authorised CBAM declarant may import more than 50 t of CBAM goods a year, it reports direct and indirect embedded emissions, using the Commission's default values (Egypt 1.404 t CO2e/t of urea for 2026 including a 1% mark-up) where verified actual data is missing, buys certificates from 1 February 2027 and surrenders them by 30 September of the following year. The importer also needs REACH cover for urea, and CE-marked urea under Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 must meet the 12 g/kg biuret limit and carry the importer's name; uncertified product is sold under national fertiliser law. Send the grade, the quantity, bulk or bagged, the discharge port, the importer of record with its CBAM authorisation and REACH registration, the delivery window and the payment terms, and the enquiry is screened and worked against them.
Also on this lane: Prilled Urea
Need the ship as well? Our chartering desk prices bulk fertilizer freight on LaycanDesk.
The market in figures
- Extra-EU urea imports, 2025 (CN 3102 10)
- 7,412,286 t · EUR 2.90 bn · EUR 392/t (2024: 5,978,676 t at EUR 339/t)
- Solid urea >45% N, 2025 (CN 3102 10 19)
- 6,527,668 t · EUR 387/t · Egypt 43.2% · Algeria 15.1% · Uzbekistan 3.2% · Nigeria 3.1%
- January-August 2026 (3102 10 19)
- 2,041,630 t at EUR 487/t (Jan-Aug 2025: 3,881,478 t at EUR 382/t) · Egypt 59.8% · Algeria 15.4%
- Main declaring member states, 2025
- Poland 17.5% · France 17.0% · Romania 13.7% · Italy 12.5% · Spain 11.4%
- Duty
- 6.5% conventional · 0% under trade agreements · 0% within the 890,000 t quota, 30 May 2026 to 31 May 2027
- CBAM (from 1 Jan 2026)
- Authorised declarant above 50 t a year · default value Egypt 1.404, Algeria 1.424 t CO2e/t (2026) · certificates sold from 1 Feb 2027
- Product rules
- REACH registration (urea, EC 200-315-5) · CE-marked urea: biuret ≤ 12 g/kg dry matter under (EU) 2019/1009
Landed values are the importing country's declared CIF, not CBIL prices.
Questions buyers ask
- What does CBAM require from a urea importer in 2026?
- From 1 January 2026 customs releases CBAM goods only to an authorised CBAM declarant, unless the importer's CBAM goods stay within the 50-tonne annual threshold; importers that applied by 31 March 2026 could keep importing while the application was decided. The declarant reports the direct and indirect emissions embedded in each lot, either from verified installation data or from the Commission's default values in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2621, which carry a 1% mark-up for fertilisers in 2026 to 2028. Member states sell CBAM certificates from 1 February 2027, and the annual declaration and surrender fall due by 30 September of the following year.
- What duty does granular urea pay into the EU?
- The conventional rate is 6.5%. Urea from origins with an EU trade agreement or preference enters at 0%, including Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine, Georgia, Trinidad and Tobago and GSP+ countries such as Uzbekistan, and the United States from 1 July 2026. For other origins Council Regulation (EU) 2026/1181 suspends the duty within a tariff quota of 890,000 t for CN 3102 10 (order 09.0173) from 30 May 2026 to 31 May 2027, first come first served. Two origins pay the separate, rising duties of Regulation (EU) 2025/1227 instead: 6.5% plus EUR 60/t from 1 July 2026, EUR 80/t from 1 July 2027 and EUR 315/t from 1 July 2028.
- What default emissions value applies to my origin?
- Annex I of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2621 sets a value per country for solid urea (CN 3102 10 19). Including the 1% mark-up, the 2026 values are 1.404 t CO2e per tonne for Egypt, 1.424 for Algeria, 1.475 for Nigeria and 1.586 for Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Where a country has no listed urea value, the 'other countries and territories' value applies, so verified actual data from the producing plant can matter more than the origin.
- Does the importer need a REACH registration?
- Yes, for 1 tonne or more a year. REACH requires each EU manufacturer or importer of a substance to register it (Article 6), and a non-EU producer may appoint an only representative in the EU to register for its importers (Article 8). Urea (EC 200-315-5) is REACH registered. For CE-marked urea the registration dossier must also cover use as a fertilising product, under CMC 1 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1009.
- CE-marked EU fertilising product or national fertiliser?
- Both are lawful. Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 has applied since 16 July 2022 and is optional: a CE-marked product meets its EU limits, including 12 g/kg of biuret on a dry-matter basis for inorganic macronutrient fertilisers, and the importer puts its name and address on the bag or on the document that accompanies bulk; product without CE marking is sold under the fertiliser law of the member state where it is marketed. Agree which route applies before the certificate of analysis and labels are drawn up.