In May 2023, at the National Forum on Centralized Adhesive Production and Wood Coating Application held in Linyi, Shandong, Gao Li, Deputy Secretary-General of the China Nitrogen Fertilizer Industry Association, pointed out that urea prices are expected to rise in the short term due to combined demand from fertilizers, automotive urea, and wood-based panels.

The Nitrogen Fertilizer Association estimates that 4.92 million tons of new urea production capacity will be added in 2023. However, except for one plant with an annual capacity of 500,000 tons expected to commence operations in May, the rest are scheduled to start production after the fourth quarter, meaning they will not contribute substantially to this year’s urea supply. Gao Li also noted: “With the approaching summer fertilizer season, domestic agricultural market stockpiling and raw material demand from compound fertilizer companies will gradually increase, benefiting the domestic urea market. Simultaneously, the recovery of the domestic economy and the rebound in demand from sectors such as automotive urea and wood-based panels will also drive steady improvement in urea enterprises and support price recovery.”

Zhang Jianhui, Secretary-General of the Wood Adhesives and Coatings Committee of the China Forest Products Industry Association, predicts that China’s wood-based panel production will reach or even exceed 340 million cubic meters in 2023, with urea consumption in the wood-based panel industry surpassing 12 million tons, significantly driving urea demand.