Right Place, Right Time22 Mar 2022 07:22
Fertiliser prices have broken new records as global supplies are hit by multiple factors including reduced supplies from Russia and Belarus, disruptions to the supply chain, a China export ban and a Canadian rail strike.
“It’s a series of events we’ve never seen before and it continues to look like it’s going to get worse than better,” said Josh Linville, the director of fertiliser at the US commodity trader StoneX. “People thought the Russia-Ukraine war would be quick and Russia would be back out in the market and that’s not been the case.”
Prices for raw materials that make up the crop nutrient commodity market – ammonia, nitrogen, potash, urea, phosphates, sulphates and nitrates – have risen 30% since the start of the year, and are now higher than the levels reached during the food and energy crisis when prices jumped in 2008, according to CRU, a UK-based commodity consultancy.