Fertiglobe Q1 2026: EBITDA rises 31% to $342M as profit nearly doubles despite Hormuz volume drop

Fertiglobe, the Abu Dhabi–listed nitrogen fertilizer producer jointly owned by ADNOC and OCI (now part of the XRG industrial group), posted a strong set of Q1 2026 financial results despite a 12% decline in own-produced volumes driven by logistical disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz.

The company reported adjusted EBITDA of $342 million for the quarter, up 31% year-on-year, on revenues of $915 million — a 32% increase versus Q1 2025. Adjusted net profit nearly doubled to $145 million, a 98% increase, as significantly higher realized prices more than offset the production shortfall.

The earnings release, published on April 29, credited the strong performance largely to surging fertilizer prices triggered by the Strait of Hormuz conflict, which broke out in late February 2026. With the strait accounting for a significant portion of global fertilizer export flows, the supply disruption pushed urea and other nitrogen product prices to multi-year highs — a market environment that directly benefits Fertiglobe’s remaining export-capable volumes.

Not all operations were equally affected. Fertiglobe’s Egyptian subsidiary EFC operated at 105% of nameplate capacity with zero unplanned downtime during the quarter, helping buffer the impact of volume constraints on UAE-based assets. Meanwhile, the company’s UAE Fertil operation benefited from a reduction in its effective tax rate — cut to 15–20% from a previous 25% — providing an additional tailwind to bottom-line results.

CEO Ahmed El-Hoshy noted that the results demonstrate Fertiglobe’s resilience amid a historically disruptive period for Middle East commodity trade, and that the company continues to optimize production across its Egyptian facilities to compensate for Hormuz-related constraints on its Gulf assets.

Fertiglobe is the world’s largest seaborne exporter of urea and ammonia, operating primarily from Abu Dhabi and Egypt.

Source: Gulf Business