Tag: Urea

The war in Ukraine has severely affected the supply of ammonium nitrate and CAN from Russia and Ukraine, with particular potential impact on Europe and Latin America. Can urea make up the difference?

A record rise in gas prices at the end of August triggered a spate of ammonia production curtailments across Europe. These included major shutdown announcements from CF Fertilisers UK, Grupa Azoty, Yara International and others.

Producing efficient fertilizers that deliver nutrients directly to crops in exactly the right amounts has clear economic and environmental benefits. Recent advances in controlled-release and stabilised fertilizer technology are highlighted.

ICL has developed a new generation of rapid biodegradable coatings for its controlled-release fertilizer (CRF) portfolio. The new coating technology reduces the environmental footprint of CRFs and will help farmers meet the requirements of Europe’s Green Deal. This patented innovation, named eqo.x, coats nitrogen fertilizers for field grown crops. Eqo.x has already been fully tested in the field – and shows excellent results in terms of production, nutrient use efficiency, volatilisation and leaching reduction. Ronald Clemens, ICL Global Marketing & Portfolio Manager CRF, explains the benefits.

Market Insight courtesy of Argus Media

It is generally necessary to solidify sulphur into a robust form suitable for handling and long-distance transport. Granulation, pastillation and prilling are some of the technologies used to produce solid sulphur from molten material. Similar technologies are also used to manufacture sulphur fertilizers.

In increasingly volatile times for commodity markets, companies up and down the fertilizer supply chain are being left financially exposed to price fluctuations. Alison Coughlin and Tom Crane of CME Group explain how derivatives allow fertilizer market participants to protect themselves from the risk of adverse price movements.

Market Insight courtesy of Argus Media

Sulphur is becoming an increasingly vital crop nutrient, due to a combination of lower sulphur deposition from the atmosphere, the increasing prevalence of high-analysis fertilizers and higher cropping intensity.

Market Insight courtesy of Argus Media