SUBMISSION COVER SHEET

IMPORTANT: Check box if Confidential Treatment is requested 

Registered Entity Identifier Code (optional): 23-388

Organization: The Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc. (“CBOT”)

Filing as a: DCM SEF DCO SDR 

Please note - only ONE choice allowed.

Filing Date (mm/dd/yy): 10/12/23 Filing Description: Amendments to Rules 41101. 

(“Contract Specifications”) and 41102. (“Trading Specifications”) of the Urea (Granular) 

FOB US Gulf Futures Contract Commencing with the April 2024 Contract Month and 

Temporary Suspension of Trading and Clearing of April 2024 and Beyond

SPECIFY FILING TYPE 

Please note only ONE choice allowed per Submission.

Organization Rules and Rule Amendments

Certification § 40.6(a)

Approval § 40.5(a)

Notification § 40.6(d)

Advance Notice of SIDCO Rule Change § 40.10(a)

SIDCO Emergency Rule Change § 40.10(h)

Rule Numbers: 

New Product Please note only ONE product per Submission.

Certification § 40.2(a) 

Certification Security Futures § 41.23(a)

Certification Swap Class § 40.2(d)

Approval § 40.3(a)

Approval Security Futures § 41.23(b)

Novel Derivative Product Notification § 40.12(a)

Swap Submission § 39.5

Product Terms and Conditions (product related Rules and Rule Amendments)

Certification § 40.6(a) 

Certification Made Available to Trade Determination § 40.6(a)

Certification Security Futures § 41.24(a)

Delisting (No Open Interest) § 40.6(a) 

Approval § 40.5(a)

Approval Made Available to Trade Determination § 40.5(a)

Approval Security Futures § 41.24(c)

Approval Amendments to enumerated agricultural products § 40.4(a), § 40.5(a)

“Non-Material Agricultural Rule Change” § 40.4(b)(5)

Notification § 40.6(d)

Official Name(s) of Product(s) Affected: Urea (Granular) FOB US Gulf Futures.

Rule Numbers: See filing.
300 Vesey Street New York, NY 10282 T 212 299 2200 F 212 301 4645 christopher.bowen@cmegroup.com cmegroup.com

1

Christopher Bowen 

Managing Director and Chief Regulatory Counsel

Legal Department

October 12, 2023

VIA ELECTRONIC PORTAL

Mr. Christopher J. Kirkpatrick 

Office of the Secretariat

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Three Lafayette Centre

1155 21st Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20581

Re: CFTC Regulation 40.6(a) Certification. Amendments to Rules 41101. (“Contract 

Specifications”) and 41102. (“Trading Specifications”) of the Urea (Granular) FOB 

US Gulf Futures Contract Commencing with the April 2024 Contract Month and

Temporary Suspension of Trading and Clearing of April 2024 and Beyond.

CBOT Submission 23-388

Dear Mr. Kirkpatrick: 

The Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc. (“CBOT” or the “Exchange”) is certifying to the Commodity 

Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC” or “Commission”) several amendments to the 

Urea (Granular) FOB US Gulf Futures contract (CME Globex Code: UFV; Clearing Code: UFV; Rulebook 

Chapter: 41) (the “Contract”) effective on October 27, 2023.

Specifically, CBOT will:

• Effective on October 27, 2023, implement amendments to Rule 41101. (“Contract Specifications”) 

and 41102. (“Trading Specifications”) of the Contract commencing with the April 2024 contract 

month and beyond. These amendments specify that the final settlement calculation will be based 

on daily ranges as opposed to weekly ranges, and, as a result of that change, amend the last trade 

date for the Contract.

• Amend Rule 41104. (“Disclaimers”) to add disclaimer language for Profercy Ltd., effective on 

October 27, 2023.

• Effective immediately and until October 27, 2023 suspend trading and clearing of the April 2024

contract month and beyond of the Contract. There is no open interest in the impacted contract 

months of the Contract.

• Effective March 29, 2024, implement amendments to Rule 41101. and Rule 41102. to delete 

obsolete language therein (collectively, the “Rule Amendments”). 

Currently, final settlement for the Contract is based on an average of the weekly (Thursday) ranges from 

two (2) price reporting agencies: Profercy Ltd. (“Profercy”) and Independent Commodity Intelligence 

Services (“ICIS”) (collectively, the “PRAs”). The Exchange is amending the final settlement of the Contract 

such that it will be based on an average of daily assessments from the PRAs:

1. Granular Barges Spot FOB USG 0-30 Days published by ICIS

2. US Gulf $ps ton fob 30 days published by Profercy
300 Vesey Street New York, NY 10282 T 212 299 2200 F 212 301 4645 christopher.bowen@cmegroup.com cmegroup.com

2

The urea market in the US Gulf is the most liquid cash market in the existing futures suite. The shift to a 

daily assessment underlying the Contract allows the final settlement to be based on a larger number of 

data points. Similar to current final settlement methodology using weekly price ranges, the daily prices from 

the PRAs will be considered, the highest overall price (regardless of source) and the lowest overall price 

(regardless of source) for each day will be removed from the data set. The arithmetic average of the 

remaining data points will be calculated to represent the daily average and used to final settle the Contract.

The Rule Amendments will also amend the last trading day from the last Thursday of the month, which was 

the day of the week that the weekly assessments were published, to the last business day of the month 

with a Profercy and/or ICIS assessment. This change allows for the most observations into daily 

assessments to be considered. Daily assessments will allow for greater observations for purposes of final 

settlement. 

The Exchange conducted extensive market participant outreach regarding the Rule Amendments. The daily 

assessment methodology is widely supported by the vast majority of participants. The Exchange is

implementing the Rule Amendments commencing with the April 2024 contract month and beyond in order 

to provide market participants with sufficient lead time. 

CBOT reviewed the designated contract market core principles (“Core Principles”) as set forth in the 

Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”) and identified the following Core Principles as potentially being 

impacted:

• Contracts not Readily Subject to Manipulation: The Contract will continue to be not readily 

subject to manipulation because of its structural attributes, active underlying market and reliance 

on a well administered index. Final settlements are now based on the averaging of daily 

assessments from two price reporting agencies licensed with the Exchange.

• Prevention of Market Disruption: A daily assessment provides a greater number of observations 

going into a final settlement calculation, further ensuring a prevention of market disruption.

• Availability of General Information: The Exchange will issue a Special Executive Report (“SER”) 

regarding the Rule Amendments. The SER will be posted on CME Group’s website.

• Daily Publication of Trading Information: The Exchange will continue to publish price 

information daily on its website and through quote vendors for the Contract.

Pursuant to Section 5c(c) of the Act and CFTC Regulation 40.6(a), Exchange certifies that the Rule 

Amendments comply with the CEA and regulations thereunder. There were no substantive opposing views 

to this proposal. 

The Exchange certifies that this submission has been concurrently posted on the Exchange’s website at 

http://www.cmegroup.com/market-regulation/rule-filings.html.

If you require any additional information regarding this action, please contact me at 212-299-

2200 or via e-mail at CMEGSubmissionInquiry@cmegroup.com. 

Sincerely,

/s/ Christopher Bowen

Managing Director and Chief Regulatory Counsel
300 Vesey Street New York, NY 10282 T 212 299 2200 F 212 301 4645 christopher.bowen@cmegroup.com cmegroup.com

3

Attachments: Exhibit A - CBOT Rulebook Amendments (blackline format)

 (Effective October 27, 2023)

Exhibit B - CBOT Rulebook Amendments (blackline format)

 (Effective March 29, 2024)

Exhibit C – Cash Market Overview and Deliverable Supply Analysis
4

EXHIBIT A

CBOT Rulebook

(Effective October 27, 2023)

(additions underlined)

Chapter 41

Urea (Granular) FOB US Gulf Futures

41100. SCOPE OF CHAPTER

The provisions of these rules shall apply to all futures contracts bought or sold on the Exchange 

for cash settlement based on the Floating Price.

41101. CONTRACT SPECIFICATIONS

(FOR ALL CONTRACT MONTHS UP TO AND INCLUDING MARCH 2024)

The Floating Price for each contract month shall be based on price assessments for “Urea granular 

bulk (spot): US Gulf ps ton fob” published weekly by ICIS during the contract month and price 

assessments for “Urea granular bulk (spot): US Gulf pst fob to 30 days” published weekly by 

Profercy during the contract month, as described in paragraph (A) below.

Notwithstanding the above, the Floating Price for all listed December contract months shall be 

based on price assessments published up to and including the last trading day of the December 

contract month.

(A) For each set of weekly data published by ICIS and Profercy, comprising both a high and a low 

price from each source, the highest overall price (or in the case of multiple prices, one of the 

highest prices) and the lowest overall price (or in the case of multiple prices, one of the lowest 

prices) shall be removed from the data set, subject to paragraph (B). The arithmetic average of 

the remaining data points shall be calculated as the weekly average price. The Floating Price shall 

be the arithmetic average of the weekly average prices determined from price assessments 

published during the contract month.

(B) Should either ICIS or Profercy, for any reason, publish a single price in respect of a weekly 

price assessment, such price shall be used twice in the formulation described in paragraph (A) in 

order to determine the weekly average price. Should either ICIS or Profercy, for any reason, fail to 

publish any price in respect of a weekly price assessment, the weekly average price shall be 

determined as the arithmetic average of the remaining published prices. Should both ICIS and 

Profercy, for any reason, fail to publish any price in respect of a weekly price assessment, no 

weekly average price shall be recorded for that week, and that week shall not be included in 

calculation of the Floating Price.

(FOR ALL CONTRACT MONTHS COMMENCING WITH THE APRIL 2024 CONTRACT 

AND BEYOND)

The Floating Price for each contract month shall be based on price assessments for “Granular 

Barges Spot FOB USG 0-30 Days” published daily by ICIS during the contract month and price 

assessments for “US Gulf $ps ton fob 30 days” published daily by Profercy during the contract 

month, as described in paragraph (A) below.

Notwithstanding the above, the Floating Price for all listed December contract months shall be 

based on price assessments published up to and including the last trading day of the December 

contract month.

(A) For each set of daily data published by ICIS and Profercy, comprising both a high and a low 

price from each source, the highest overall price and the lowest overall price shall be removed 

from the data set, subject to paragraph (B). In the case of multiple highest or lowest prices, only 

one such price shall be removed from the data set, subject to paragraph (B). The arithmetic 

average of the remaining data points shall be calculated as the daily average price. The Floating 

Price shall be the arithmetic average of the daily average prices determined from price 

assessments published during the contract month.
5

(B) Should either ICIS or Profercy, for any reason, publish the same price in respect of a daily 

price assessment, such price shall be used twice in the formulation described in paragraph (A) in 

order to determine the daily average price. Should either ICIS or Profercy, for any reason, fail to 

publish any price in respect of a daily price assessment, the daily average price shall be 

determined as the arithmetic average of the remaining published prices. Should both ICIS and 

Profercy, for any reason, fail to publish any price in respect of a daily price assessment, that day 

shall not be included in calculation of the Floating Price.

41102. TRADING SPECIFICATIONS

Contracts shall be listed for a series of contract months. The number of months open for trading 

at any given time shall be determined by the Exchange. 

41102.A. Trading Schedule

The hours of trading for this contract shall be determined by the Exchange.

41102.B. Trading Unit

The contract size shall be 100 short tons. Each contract shall be valued as the contract size 

multiplied by the settlement price.

41102.C. Price Increments

Prices shall be quoted in U.S. dollars and cents per ton. The minimum price fluctuation shall be 

$0.25 per ton. The minimum fluctuation in respect on the Floating Price shall be $0.01 per ton. 

There shall be no maximum price fluctuation.

41102.D. Position Limits, Exemptions, Position Accountability and Reportable Levels

The applicable position limits and/or accountability levels, in addition to the reportable levels, are set 

forth in the Position Limit, Position Accountability and Reportable Level Table in the Interpretations 

& Special Notices Section of Chapter 5. 

A Person seeking an exemption from position limits for bona fide commercial purposes shall apply 

to the Market Regulation Department on forms provided by the Exchange, and the Market Regulation 

Department may grant qualified exemptions in its sole discretion.

Refer to Rule 559 for requirements concerning the aggregation of positions and allowable 

exemptions from the specified position limits.

41102.E. Termination of Trading

(FOR ALL CONTRACT MONTHS UP TO AND INCLUDING MARCH 2024)

Trading shall terminate on the last Thursday of the contract month. If that day is not a business day, 

trading shall terminate on the preceding business day. If that day is not an Exchange business day 

or a London business day, trading shall terminate on the preceding Exchange business day that is 

also a London business day.

Notwithstanding the above, all listed December contract months shall terminate on the Thursday 

immediately preceding December 26, unless that day is not a business day in which case all listed 

December contract months shall terminate on the preceding business day. As such, in no 

circumstance shall a December contract month terminate on December 26.

(FOR ALL CONTRACT MONTHS COMMENCING WITH THE APRIL 2024 CONTRACT 

AND BEYOND)

Trading shall cease on the last business day in the contract month which is also a Profercy and/or 

ICIS publication date for the price assessment.

41103. FINAL SETTLEMENT

Delivery under the contract shall be by cash settlement. Final settlement, following termination of 

trading for a contract month, will be based on the Floating Price. The final settlement price will be 

the Floating Price calculated for each contract month.

41104. DISCLAIMERS

Reed Business Information Ltd (trading as ''ICIS") licenses NYMEX and its affiliates (collectively, 

the "Exchange") to use various ICIS price assessments in connection with the trading and/or 

clearing of the product. Neither Exchange nor ICIS guarantees the accuracy, timeliness or 

completeness of the index or any of the data included therein. TO THE FULL EXTENT 

PERMITTED BY LAW, EXCHANGE AND ICIS MAKE NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR 

IMPLIED, AS TO THE RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED BY ANY PERSON OR ENTITY FROM USE 

OF THE INDEX, TRADING BASED ON THE INDEX, OR ANY DATA INCLUDED THEREIN IN 
6

CONNECTION WITH THE TRADING OF THE CONTRACTS, OR, FOR ANY OTHER USE. TO 

THE FULL EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, EXCHANGE AND ICIS MAKE NO WARRANTIES, 

EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AND HEREBY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY 

OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE WITH RESPECT TO THE INDEX OR 

ANY DATA INCLUDED THEREIN. WITHOUT LIMITING ANY OF THE FOREGOING, IN NO 

EVENT SHALL EXCHANGE OR ICIS HAVE ANY LIABILITY FOR ANY LOST PROFITS OR 

INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING LOST 

PROFITS), EVEN IF NOTIFIED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

PROFERCY LTD (“PROFERCY”) DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY AND/OR 

COMPLETENESS OF THE INDEXES, ITS PRICE INDEXES OR THE RELATED DATA. 

PROFERCY MAKE NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO THE RESULTS 

OBTAINED BY ANY PERSON OR ENTITY FROM THE USE OF THE INDEX, PRICE INDEXES 

OR RELATED DATA. THIS INCLUDES, BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO, THE TRADING OF 

CONTRACTS. IN NO EVENT SHALL PROFERCY HAVE ANY LIABILITY FOR ANY LOST 

PROFITS OR INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING 

LOST PROFITS), EVEN IF NOTIFIED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

EXHIBIT B

CBOT Rulebook

[Effective March 29, 2024]

(deletions struck though)

Chapter 41

Urea (Granular) FOB US Gulf Futures

41100. SCOPE OF CHAPTER

The provisions of these rules shall apply to all futures contracts bought or sold on the Exchange 

for cash settlement based on the Floating Price.

41101. CONTRACT SPECIFICATIONS

(FOR ALL CONTRACT MONTHS UP TO AND INCLUDING MARCH 2024)

The Floating Price for each contract month shall be based on price assessments for “Urea granular 

bulk (spot): US Gulf ps ton fob” published weekly by ICIS during the contract month and price 

assessments for “Urea granular bulk (spot): US Gulf pst fob to 30 days” published weekly by 

Profercy during the contract month, as described in paragraph (A) below.

Notwithstanding the above, the Floating Price for all listed December contract months shall be 

based on price assessments published up to and including the last trading day of the December 

contract month.

(A) For each set of weekly data published by ICIS and Profercy, comprising both a high and a low 

price from each source, the highest overall price (or in the case of multiple prices, one of the 

highest prices) and the lowest overall price (or in the case of multiple prices, one of the lowest 

prices) shall be removed from the data set, subject to paragraph (B). The arithmetic average of 

the remaining data points shall be calculated as the weekly average price. The Floating Price shall 

be the arithmetic average of the weekly average prices determined from price assessments 

published during the contract month.

(B) Should either ICIS or Profercy, for any reason, publish a single price in respect of a weekly 

price assessment, such price shall be used twice in the formulation described in paragraph (A) in 

order to determine the weekly average price. Should either ICIS or Profercy, for any reason, fail to 

publish any price in respect of a weekly price assessment, the weekly average price shall be 
7

determined as the arithmetic average of the remaining published prices. Should both ICIS and 

Profercy, for any reason, fail to publish any price in respect of a weekly price assessment, no 

weekly average price shall be recorded for that week, and that week shall not be included in 

calculation of the Floating Price.

(FOR ALL CONTRACT MONTHS COMMENCING WITH THE APRIL 2024 CONTRACT 

AND BEYOND)

The Floating Price for each contract month shall be based on price assessments for “Granular 

Barges Spot FOB USG 0-30 Days” published daily by ICIS during the contract month and price 

assessments for “US Gulf $ps ton fob 30 days” published daily by Profercy during the contract 

month, as described in paragraph (A) below.

Notwithstanding the above, the Floating Price for all listed December contract months shall be 

based on price assessments published up to and including the last trading day of the December 

contract month.

(A) For each set of daily data published by ICIS and Profercy, comprising both a high and a low 

price from each source, the highest overall price and the lowest overall price shall be removed 

from the data set, subject to paragraph (B). In the case of multiple highest or lowest prices, only 

one such price shall be removed from the data set, subject to paragraph (B). The arithmetic 

average of the remaining data points shall be calculated as the daily average price. The Floating 

Price shall be the arithmetic average of the daily average prices determined from price 

assessments published during the contract month.

(B) Should either ICIS or Profercy, for any reason, publish the same price in respect of a daily 

price assessment, such price shall be used twice in the formulation described in paragraph (A) in 

order to determine the daily average price. Should either ICIS or Profercy, for any reason, fai l to 

publish any price in respect of a daily price assessment, the daily average price shall be 

determined as the arithmetic average of the remaining published prices. Should both ICIS and 

Profercy, for any reason, fail to publish any price in respect of a daily price assessment, that day 

shall not be included in calculation of the Floating Price.

41102. TRADING SPECIFICATIONS

Contracts shall be listed for a series of contract months. The number of months open for trading 

at any given time shall be determined by the Exchange. 

41102.A. Trading Schedule

The hours of trading for this contract shall be determined by the Exchange.

41102.B. Trading Unit

The contract size shall be 100 short tons. Each contract shall be valued as the contract size 

multiplied by the settlement price.

41102.C. Price Increments

Prices shall be quoted in U.S. dollars and cents per ton. The minimum price fluctuation shall be 

$0.25 per ton. The minimum fluctuation in respect on the Floating Price shall be $0.01 per ton. 

There shall be no maximum price fluctuation.

41102.D. Position Limits, Exemptions, Position Accountability and Reportable Levels

The applicable position limits and/or accountability levels, in addition to the reportable levels, are set 

forth in the Position Limit, Position Accountability and Reportable Level Table in the Interpretations 

& Special Notices Section of Chapter 5. 

A Person seeking an exemption from position limits for bona fide commercial purposes shall apply 

to the Market Regulation Department on forms provided by the Exchange, and the Market Regulation 

Department may grant qualified exemptions in its sole discretion.

Refer to Rule 559 for requirements concerning the aggregation of positions and allowable 

exemptions from the specified position limits.

41102.E. Termination of Trading

(FOR ALL CONTRACT MONTHS UP TO AND INCLUDING MARCH 2024)

Trading shall terminate on the last Thursday of the contract month. If that day is not a business day, 

trading shall terminate on the preceding business day. If that day is not an Exchange business day 

or a London business day, trading shall terminate on the preceding Exchange business day that is 

also a London business day.

Notwithstanding the above, all listed December contract months shall terminate on the Thursday 

immediately preceding December 26, unless that day is not a business day in which case all listed 
8

December contract months shall terminate on the preceding business day. As such, in no 

circumstance shall a December contract month terminate on December 26.

(FOR ALL CONTRACT MONTHS COMMENCING WITH THE APRIL 2024 CONTRACT 

AND BEYOND)

Trading shall cease on the last business day in the contract month which is also a Profercy and/or 

ICIS publication date for the price assessment.

41103. FINAL SETTLEMENT

Delivery under the contract shall be by cash settlement. Final settlement, following termination of 

trading for a contract month, will be based on the Floating Price. The final settlement price will be 

the Floating Price calculated for each contract month.

41104. DISCLAIMERS

Reed Business Information Ltd (trading as ''ICIS") licenses NYMEX and its affiliates (collectively, 

the "Exchange") to use various ICIS price assessments in connection with the trading and/or 

clearing of the product. Neither Exchange nor ICIS guarantees the accuracy, timeliness or 

completeness of the index or any of the data included therein. TO THE FULL EXTENT 

PERMITTED BY LAW, EXCHANGE AND ICIS MAKE NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR 

IMPLIED, AS TO THE RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED BY ANY PERSON OR ENTITY FROM USE 

OF THE INDEX, TRADING BASED ON THE INDEX, OR ANY DATA INCLUDED THEREIN IN 

CONNECTION WITH THE TRADING OF THE CONTRACTS, OR, FOR ANY OTHER USE. TO 

THE FULL EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, EXCHANGE AND ICIS MAKE NO WARRANTIES, 

EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AND HEREBY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY 

OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE WITH RESPECT TO THE INDEX OR 

ANY DATA INCLUDED THEREIN. WITHOUT LIMITING ANY OF THE FOREGOING, IN NO 

EVENT SHALL EXCHANGE OR ICIS HAVE ANY LIABILITY FOR ANY LOST PROFITS OR 

INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING LOST 

PROFITS), EVEN IF NOTIFIED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

PROFERCY LTD (“PROFERCY”) DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY AND/OR 

COMPLETENESS OF THE INDEXES, ITS PRICE INDEXES OR THE RELATED DATA. 

PROFERCY MAKE NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO THE RESULTS 

OBTAINED BY ANY PERSON OR ENTITY FROM THE USE OF THE INDEX, PRICE INDEXES 

OR RELATED DATA. THIS INCLUDES, BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO, THE TRADING OF 

CONTRACTS. IN NO EVENT SHALL PROFERCY HAVE ANY LIABILITY FOR ANY LOST 

PROFITS OR INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING 

LOST PROFITS), EVEN IF NOTIFIED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
9

EXHIBIT C

Cash Market Overview and Deliverable Supply Analysis

Cash Market Overview:

Urea is a fertilizer that is commonly used in the agricultural industry. Urea is a combination of ammonia, 

carbon dioxide and oxygen, and is comprised of 46% nitrogen. Urea can be purchased in two forms: prilled 

or granulated. The Urea (Granular) FOB US Gulf Futures contract (the “Contract”), which is based on two 

assessments from price reporting agencies, includes only granular urea and excludes prilled urea.

Urea is one of the most commonly used nitrogen fertilizers, and is produced around the world. Nearly 180 

million tonnes of urea are produced globally on an annual basis, and global production capacity is expected 

to increase.1 The largest increases in overall fertilizer capacity will come from urea. The largest producers 

of urea – China and India – are also the largest consumers of urea, which means only about a quarter of 

urea produced around the world is traded across border. Global trade of urea, which is about 52 million 

metric tons annually, is concentrated among the top few exporting countries, mostly found in the Black Sea 

and Middle Eastern regions.

The United States is one of the largest importers of urea globally. The agricultural sector in the United 

States relies on imported fertilizer – namely nitrogen products like urea – to continually increase yield in 

field crops. The other major importers of urea include India and Brazil. Demand is expected to increase and 

supply is expected to stabilize in the next few years. It takes approximately four years to build out urea 

plants, so aside from those already known to be under construction (a few plants in Brazil and in Iran), 

global production and supply is not expected to grow significantly. However, as the United States and Brazil 

continue to plant large acreage for agricultural production, demand will continue to grow.

The Contract is based on two aggregated assessments from price reporting agencies: Profercy and ICIS. 

Urea Production/Imports:

The assessments used by Profercy and ICIS cover both imported and domestically produced urea. 

However, the United States produces a negligible amount of urea when compared to imports, and no good 

data are available on US production. Therefore, deliverable supply will focus solely on US urea imports.

On average, the United States makes up about 15-20% of global urea imports. As of only a few years ago, 

it was the largest importer of urea in the world. As Brazil’s agricultural growth has exploded, so has its need 

for fertilizer. The US imports from a wide variety of suppliers, mainly located in the Middle East and the 

Black Sea. The United States also relies on Canada for urea supply. 

U.S. Urea Suppliers (MT) 2022

Qatar 1,093,067

Oman 797,978

Russia 733,576

Saudi Arabia 694,919

Canada 525,335

Nigeria 280,929

Algeria 270,223

Netherlands 126,714

Bahrain 80,246

Trinidad and Tobago 79,923

1 The Fertilizer Industry Handbook.
10

WORLD 4,682,910

The following table aggregates all the suppliers to the US into one table and breaks down the imports on a 

monthly basis over the last three full years.2

US Urea Imports (Short Tons)

2020 2021 2022 AVERAGE

January 289,650 483,054 454,698 409,134

February 429,752 342,651 504,920 425,774

March 628,209 935,514 800,222 787,982

April 1,082,974 1,149,971 774,278 1,002,408

May 853,925 636,107 644,731 711,588

June 224,173 401,477 478,182 367,944

July 199,137 499,464 197,131 298,577

August 163,312 284,288 166,897 204,832

September 268,246 307,202 265,473 280,307

October 377,865 691,961 216,476 428,767

November 331,947 818,489 580,674 577,037

December 182,242 359,287 313,940 285,156

TOTAL 5,031,432 6,909,464 5,397,622 5,779,506

AVERAGE 419,286 575,789 449,802 481,626

The assessments used to settle the fertilizer contract look at urea imported into the US Gulf. The U.S. 

Census Bureau provides monthly data broken down by import port, which is found in the table below. While 

deliverable supply is based on three full years of data from 2020 to 2022, data from 2023 is being included

for greater continuity of trend.

US Urea Imports (Gulf Districts) (Short Tons)

2020 2021 2022 2023

3-Year 

AVERAGE

January 161,842 258,056 333,371 255,652 251,090

February 121,167 192,818 310,959 476,412 208,315

March 427,226 691,357 662,833 510,949 593,805

April 807,869 839,240 605,313 340,366 750,807

May 588,453 332,461 388,345 435,285 436,420

June 58,064 259,063 263,925 * 193,684

July 115,564 307,294 54,798 * 159,219

August 48,502 145,580 54,607 * 82,896

September 115,264 75,077 187,896 * 126,079

October 260,996 555,029 124,444 * 313,490

November 174,019 586,224 490,810 * 417,018

December 54,490 283,821 187,227 * 175,179

TOTAL 2,933,456 4,526,020 3,664,529 2,018,664 3,708,002

2 USDA, Foreign Agricultural Service, Global Agricultural Trade System (GATS).
11

AVERAGE 244,455 377,168 305,377 403,733 309,000

Imports of urea are generally seasonal. The United States imports more urea in the late winter/early spring 

for application in April and May. Urea imports into the United States decrease during the height of the 

summer months. The Exchange evaluates seasonality on the deliverable supply across all fertilizer futures 

contract expirations. The Exchange will continue to monitor whether there is a need to adjust the spotmonth position limit for that corresponding contract month.

These figures represent overall urea imports, both prilled and granular. As the Contract and underlying 

assessments only price granular urea, a trimming of the data is required to retrieve only granular urea 

imports into the United States. Both price reporting agencies have experts that estimate over 90% of urea 

imported into the United States is granular, while only a small segment is prilled. To that end, the following 

table shows a reduction of 10% of urea imports into United States Gulf ports, and should represent only 

granular imports.

US Granular Urea Imports (Gulf Districts) (Short Tons)

2020 2021 2022 2023

3-Year 

AVERAGE

January 145,658 232,251 300,033 230,087 225,981

February 109,050 173,536 279,864 428,771 187,483

March 384,503 622,221 596,550 459,854 534,425

April 727,082 755,316 544,781 306,329 675,727

May 529,607 299,215 349,510 391,756 392,778

June 52,258 233,156 237,532 * 174,316

July 104,008 276,565 49,318 * 143,297

August 43,651 131,022 49,147 * 74,607

September 103,738 67,570 169,107 * 113,471

October 234,897 499,526 112,000 * 282,141

November 156,618 527,602 441,729 * 375,316

December 49,041 255,439 168,505 * 157,662

TOTAL 2,640,111 4,073,418 3,298,076 1,816,797 3,337,202

AVERAGE 220,009 339,451 274,840 363,359 278,100

Additionally, the Exchange excludes all urea under long term contract. Estimates from the price reporting 

agencies suggest that approximately 30% of urea imported into the United States is under long term 

contract, and not considered part of underlying deliverable supply. The table below reduces the granular 

urea imports into United States Gulf ports by 30%.

US Granular Urea Imports (Gulf Districts) (Short Tons)

2020 2021 2022 2023 3-Year AVERAGE

January 101,961 162,575 210,023 161,061 158,187

February 76,335 121,476 195,904 300,139 131,238

March 269,152 435,555 417,585 321,898 374,097

April 508,957 528,721 381,347 214,430 473,009

May 370,725 209,450 244,657 274,229 274,944

June 36,580 163,209 166,273 * 122,021

July 72,805 193,595 34,523 * 100,308

August 30,556 91,715 34,403 * 52,225
12

September 72,616 47,299 118,375 * 79,430

October 164,428 349,668 78,400 * 197,498

November 109,632 369,321 309,210 * 262,721

December 34,329 178,807 117,953 * 110,363

TOTAL 1,848,077 2,851,392 2,308,653 1,271,758 2,336,041

AVERAGE 154,006 237,616 192,388 254,352 194,670

Deliverable Supply Analysis:

The assessments from Profercy and ICIS are based on transactions, bids, and offers on US Gulf FOB 

prices. The assessment captures the value of imports into the United States through Gulf ports globally, 

which is why granular urea imports are being used to determine the amount of the underlying commodity.

Using the average of the last three years of available data, the deliverable supply of granular urea from the 

United States Gulf is 2,336,041 tons (23,360 contract equivalents) annually, or 194,670 tons (1,946 contract 

equivalents) per month. This figure represents the average of 2020-2022 granular urea imports into the 

United States Gulf not under long term contract. Using the spot-month speculative position limit formula of 

25% of deliverable supply, the maximum deliverable supply for the Contract supports position limits of 486 

contracts (1,946*0.25). However, due to the seasonality of urea imports into the United States Gulf, there 

are a few summer months that have average import volumes below annual averages, which is in part due 

to lower demand in these months once the crops have been planted in the United States. To account for 

this difference, the Exchange determined that a spot month position limit below 411 contracts. Ultimately, 

the Exchange determined that a spot month position limit of 400 contracts. The Exchange shall continue 

to evaluate any necessary seasonal adjustments to the spot-month position limit of the Contract.