Section: CRUFI Market & Features

Dr Karl Wyant of Nutrien outlines how the phosphorus and potassium removed during soybean/corn rotations are best replenished.

Soybean growers are increasingly turning to biostimulants and micronutrients such as boron to achieve yield gains.

Latin America has become a desirable destination for green ammonia projects. This is linked to the region’s abundance of relatively inexpensive renewable energy, and large-scale fertilizer demand from a growing, high-value and import-dependent agricultural market. Ahead of Fertilizer Latino Americano 2025, Fertilizer International discusses regional green ammonia project prospects with leading players ATOME, Casale, Atlas Agro and Stamicarbon.

CRU will host the 2025 Fertilizer Latino Americano conference at the Windsor Oceanico Hotel, Rio de Janeiro, 26-29 January 2025. Join key market players at Latin America’s biggest fertilizer networking event.

We look ahead at fertilizer industry prospects for the next 12 months, including the key economic and agricultural drivers likely to shape the market during 2025.

Market snapshot, 2nd January 2025

Market snapshot, 17th October 2024 Urea : Prices firmed in a thin market in mid-October. Middle East values shot up $20/t on expectations that Indian Potash Limited (IPL) would announce another tender to secure tonnes for India in December. If correct, this will follow hot on the heels of the latest Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCF) purchase tender for 0.56 million tonnes of urea. Sohar International Urea & Chemical Industries (SIUCI) sold a November cargo at $390/t f.o.b. with further trader interest reported at $385/t f.o.b. This demand was probably generated by traders positioning themselves for IPL’s expected tender, given that other markets generally remained quiet.

Emerging evidence suggests that by-products used as fertilizers, particularly ammonium sulphate, may emerge as winners from the EU’s implementation of the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM). In this article, Franck Boher of Upgraid investigates whether by-products can help reshape sustainable fertilizer production in Europe.

We look at the future of polyhalite mining and its use as a fertilizer following Anglo American’s announcement that investment in its UK-Based Woodsmith mine will fall to zero in 2026 under current plans.

The ‘golden batch’ refers to stable periods at production plants that consistently generate high quality NPK products at high output. Yara’s Golden Batch digital tool digitises and stores past data from optimal production runs, making these easy to retrieve and implement again in future. Yara’s Marianne Ytterbø provides an overview of this novel digital tool, explains how it was developed, and highlights key benefits.