Just like most living creatures, plants have basic needs in order to thrive: water, food and protection from diseases and pests. Commercially produced fertilizers give plants the nutrients needed for health and growth.

Nitrogen typically accounts for the majority of worldwide fertilizer consumption in any planting season. It is an essential element for most organic compounds in plants, as it promotes protein formation and is a major component of chlorophyll, which helps to promote green healthy growth and high yields.

The production of virtually all nitrogen-based fertilizers starts with the production of ammonia. There are a number of processes that produce the various fertilizers derived from ammonia, the most common of which include: urea, ammonium nitrate, urea ammonium nitrate solution, and ammoniated phosphates (often referred to as MAP and DAP). The diversity of products facilitates site-specific agricultural applications, which take into account factors such as soil type and the requirements of the crop, thus making it possible to achieve optimal plant nutrition.

Ammonia is the basic building block for producing nearly all forms of nitrogen-based fertilizers. To a lesser extent, it is also used directly as a commercial fertilizer. Ammonia is produced by reacting gaseous nitrogen with hydrogen at high pressure and temperature in the presence of a catalyst. Nearly all hydrogen produced for the manufacture of nitrogen-based fertilizers is produced by reforming natural gas at a high temperature and pressure in the presence of water and a catalyst. Hydrogen can also be produced by gasifying petroleum coke. Because of the wide availability of feedstocks capable of being reformed into hydrogen, ammonia and nitrogen fertilizers are produced in many countries.