Section: CRUFI Comment

Alzbeta Klein, CEO and Director General of the International Fertilizer Association (IFA), sets the scene for IFA’s Annual Conference in Monaco, 12-14 May.

Simon Inglethorpe, editor of Fertilizer International, shares his thoughts on the hurdles facing the fertilizer industry and how best to vault these.

As a tumultuous 2024 draws to a close, CRU’s fertilizer team to make a few predictions for the year ahead.

CRU’s 2025 Phosphates Conference – now in its 16th year – will be held in Orlando, Florida, 31 March - 2 April next year. The 2024 event convened in Warsaw was one of the most successful to date (Fertilizer International 519, p4).

The International Fertilizer Association’s annual Global Markets Conference is an in-depth event for those tracking the market. This year’s two-day gathering in London in July lived up to its billing as a meeting of curious minds (Fertilizer International 521, p4).

The fertilizer market is full of contradictions and caveats. What applies to some markets is irrelevant to others, seasonality trends can be thrown off track by a single tender or government decision, and we remain at the often shaky intersection of food, energy and mining market fundamentals.

A lot of low-carbon ammonia projects have been announced in recent years – so many, in fact, you’ve probably lost count.

2024 is my tenth year as editor of Fertilizer International magazine. But, having joined CRU in January, it’s also a fresh start.

In a recent webinar, Chris Lawson, CRU’s Head of Fertilizers, gave the CRU view on what 2024 holds in store for the global fertilizer industry. Here are CRU’s top 10 calls for the year ahead:

Brazil is a powerhouse agricultural economy, ranking as a top three global exporter of soybeans, corn and sugar. It is also the world’s number one producer and exporter of oranges and orange juice – as highlighted in our current issue (p18).