Biostimulants are emerging as mainstream products with major fertilizer producers – including Yara, Mosaic, Fertiberia and ICL – launching their own biostimulant lines and expanding production capabilities. Smaller innovative companies, meanwhile, such as Azotic and Fyteko, remain the mainstays of the sector and are continuing to being new products to market. Other players such as Den Nouden/GrowSolutions are targeting the expansion of organic fertilizers.
Ammonia pricing in the US Mid-West stood at $625/st f.o.b. in February, with applications to field continuing to ramp up. Prices in the US Gulf remain pegged in the low-to-mid$400s/t f.o.b. Recent production outages in the region have largely subsided, though an unexpectedly early uptick in seasonal demand from local buyers is likely to provide a degree of price support moving forward. The Tampa ammonia settlement for March has been settled by Yara and Mosaic at a $445/t c.fr rollover, largely in line with market expectations. The North American market remains detached from the considerably more oversupplied global ammonia scene.
Indian fertilizer producers Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers (MCFL) and Paradeep Phosphates (PPL) have announced that the companies intend to merge, allowing them to consolidate their operations, according to a company statement. The new merged company, to be called PPL, will have a total production capacity of 3.6 million t/a of fertilizers.
The US is experiencing a new boom in nitrogen projects, with a number of carbon capture ammonia plants under development.
Join us at CRU Nitrogen + Syngas 2024 in Gothenburg, 4-6 March, for a truly global gathering of the nitrogen and syngas community, where leading producers and technology experts will gather to connect, share knowledge, exchange ideas and learn about the latest developments in operations, technology, process and equipment.
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).
BHP has approved an investment of $4.9 billion (CAD 6.4 billion) in stage two of its Jansen potash project (Jansen Stage 2) in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Low demand, high gas prices and cheaper Russian imports of urea and ammonia are keeping a lid on European fertiliser production, prompting fears of permanent plant closures. ICIS’s Deepika Thapliyal, Sylvia Tranganida, and Aura Sabadus examine the challenges faced by the sector and the potential long-term impacts on the European fertilizer industry.
Citrus fruit growers are an attractive end-market for fertilizer suppliers due to the high K and N requirement of this widely-cultivated cash crop and the efficacy of fertigation and foliar spraying. We examine the nutrient needs of citrus trees and how balanced application of fertilizers helps maximise citrus fruit quality and yield.
Market Insight courtesy of Argus Media. Urea: Prices in general fell further in late October. Suppliers in most regions were forced to accept lower than expected net-backs due to low import demand and high producer inventories. India was the exception with IPL securing 1.7 million tonnes of urea at $400-404/t cfr under its 20th October tender.