Food and fertilizer fears
Are we on the verge of a fertilizer production, trade and supply crisis? Some usually sober and authoritative voices seem to think so.
Section: CRUFI Comment
These are the good times
2021 is turning out to be a very good year for profits and earnings. Take Nutrien and Yara International, for example, the fertilizer sector’s two biggest companies by market capitalisation.
Becoming more inhibited
In 2019, the EU fertilizer market was valued at around e17 billion, with France, Germany and former member state the UK together representing 40 percent of this total.
The great green leap forward
As recently as five years ago, decarbonising fertilizer production was little more than an aspiration.
What’s driving the fertilizer price rally?
Fertilizer markets are rallying to an extent not seen in almost a decade. This is primarily being driven by strong demand fundamentals, with crop prices moving to their highest point since 2013. But low pipeline inventories and supply disruptions have also played a part. In this guest editorial, CRU’s Chris Lawson explains what’s driving this rally and highlights the key supporting factors.
The high stakes phosphate game
No one in this industry should ever need a reminder that commodity markets are cyclical. The corollary of that is – every once in a while – markets can, and will, abruptly change direction.
Resilient ratings
The late autumn gloom has darkened in recent weeks, as Europe slipped back into a lockdown that seemed as inevitable as the encroaching winter.
Nutrients for livelihoods
“There can be no life without soil, and no soil without life.” An insightful quote from Charles Kellogg, the renowned former chief of USDA’s soils bureau.
De-commoditisation, easy for you to say
The fertilizer market remains a commodity market. The three major nutrients N, P and K, more often than not, are supplied through four main products: urea, diammonium phosphate, monoammonium phosphate (DAP and MAP) and potassium chloride (MOP). Combined world consumption of these long-standing, globally-traded commodities is north of 300 million tonnes annually.
Lockdown lessons
The arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic has abruptly ended lives and livelihoods during its pernicious and inexorable spread across the globe. The fertilizer industry has not been immune to its parlous effects.