Nearly 150 million tons of urea fertilizer is consumed worldwide every year. A forecasted annual growth rate of 3.2% is expected to create a $96 billion global market by 2019. The Americas today represent 17% of total global urea consumption, yet only produce 10%. This requires the costly import of roughly 7 million tons of urea to North America, and another 7 million tons to Central and South America, at a $75/ton shipping margin.
Created from ammonia synthesis and carbon dioxide, urea accounts for 57.4% of worldwide nitrogen fertilizer consumption, and can be produced as a liquid or solid (source: IFA). Urea has the highest nitrogen content (46%) of all solid nitrogenous fertilizers in common use, and in the dry fertilizer category, urea has captured more than 65% of world trade. Compared to other nitrogen fertilizers, urea is also safer to transport and is less corrosive to equipment.