World News

It sounds like they do both import and manufacture some, but it sounds like they can't do sufficient of either to eliminate reliance on human waste from the system.

kagis

This was 2020:

https://beyondparallel.csis.org/kim-zeroes-in-on-fertilizer-production-the-latest-activity-at-the-hungnam-liquid-nutrient-fertilizer-factory/

During the past 10 years, North Korea has undertaken a number of modernization projects at the Hungnam Fertilizer Complex, one of the nation’s oldest and largest chemical complexes. While the majority of these have been large undertakings such as the First- and Second-phase Lignite Gasification Plants in the western section of the complex, a number of smaller projects have also been undertaken. Most recently has been the construction of a small “liquid nutrient fertilizer factory.”

Here's 2021:

https://www.38north.org/2021/04/the-sunchon-phosphatic-fertilizer-plant-is-one-year-old-but-is-it-operating/

May 1 marks the one-year anniversary of the opening of the Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Factory.[1] The factory is an important piece in Kim Jong Un’s push to build up North Korea’s domestic chemical industry and fertilizer production, as part of larger efforts to increase agricultural production and save foreign currency. However, after 12 months, it remains unclear if the plant is fully operational. Commercial satellite imagery over the last year indicates a gradual increase of activity throughout the complex, but no major activity was observed, and no state industrial achievements for this site were reported. This suggests that production is likely still at an early stage.

2022:

https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/manure-02012022130916.html

Yearly ‘battle’ begins in North Korea over human waste for fertilizer

Citizens once again steal human feces from each other’s toilets to meet impossibly high quotas.

In impoverished North Korea, farmland is fertilized using human waste, and the government tasks every household with yearly collection quotas.

RFA reported in January 2019 that households were struggling to meet an impossible quota amounting to 100 kilograms (220 pounds) per able-bodied citizen per day.

“On the 25th, several residents from Marum village in Sunam district had a dispute with the people of nearby Sinhyang village as the Marumers were trying to collect human feces from a communal toilet located within Sinhyang,” the source said.

“After the authorities imposed their orders for every citizen to produce manure, conflicts are erupting… as the people venture into other districts,” he said.

The order to produce manure went out to every institution, company, school, and neighborhood watch unit according to the source.

The source said each resident must deliver the 300 kilograms of manure by early March at the latest to a cooperative farm to use as fertilizer.

https://www.dailynk.com/english/north-korea-pushes-fertilizer-production-despite-lack-urea/

North Korean authorities are pushing fertilizer production, even though they are not supplying urea, a necessary raw material. This is leading to complaints on the ground, with workers saying that fertilizer without urea does nothing to boost agricultural production.

A source in South Pyongan Province told Daily NK on Monday that a recent plenary meeting of the provincial party committee decided to send even more organic compound fertilizer to small family plots in the province “based on the experience and lessons of last year.” The meeting said fertilizer supply was a vital link to increasing grain production by more than a ton per jongbo (about 9,900 square meters), tasking farms with producing organic compound fertilizer.

North Korea has been conducting a sweeping campaign to boost food production this year with the goal of increasing grain production by more than a ton per jongbo. Basically, the authorities have tasked ordinary people with producing organic compound fertilizer as a key task to achieving party goals.

On the ground, however, people are complaining that the authorities are simply demanding production without providing the urea needed to produce organic compound fertilizer. That is to say, the authorities are making unreasonable demands even though fertilizer without urea cannot raise agricultural production.

The source said in most cities and counties in the province, people use commonly available peat moss or manure to produce organic compound fertilizer, but this needs a certain amount of urea to work.

He said the provincial party meeting made no mention of providing urea. He added that in this case, agriculture will not thrive just because you tasked people with producing organic compound fertilizer.

North Korea has been experiencing severe difficulties producing fertilizer due to urea supply shortages. The aftermath of China’s curbs on urea exports apparently continues.

Here's 2023:

https://www.nknews.org/pro/fertilizer-chemical-tops-north-koreas-imports-from-china-in-december/

Expert says DPRK has long lacked fertilizer for farming and likely purchased chemical with recent ‘additional revenues’

North Korea procured record quantities of a fertilizer chemical from China in December, knocking imports of human hair for wigs off the top spot.

North Korea and China trade spiked to a four-year high of nearly $260 million in the last month of 2023, and NK Pro analysis of line-item data from China’s General Administration of Customs shows that the DPRK imported record quantities of a chemical used in fertilizers in December.

Pyongyang procured almost 40,000 tons of diammonium hydrogen orthophosphate worth $25.3 million, representing a nearly 25-fold jump from November and its highest monthly value in 2023.

Here's 2024:

https://www.38north.org/articles/affiliates/north-korean-economy-watch/21856/

The Namhung Youth Chemical Complex, north of Pyongyang, produces fertilizer and coal gas using anthracite mined in the area. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited the site in 2013.

High-pressure valves and jet sprays at the complex have become too worn for continued use, according to reports the Korea International Trade Association received from North Korea in January. Without replacement parts, it is unclear when the plant can resume work.

The suspension hinders North Korea’s push to lift its meager agricultural output. Kim last year ordered a boost in fertilizer production and attended a completion ceremony for a separate fertilizer plant. Coal gas also serves as a valuable industrial energy source for the country, which faces an oil embargo in response to its nuclear and missile testing.