Fertiliser Prices Collapse
Hands up if you saw that one coming. Right, so that's everybody then.
The price of urea, the world's most common nitrogen fertilizer, rose from about $280 to $405 per ton in 2007 and reached $452 in April 2008. The price then soared to $815 per ton in August, but has subsequently plunged to $247, lower than before the price spiral began, by mid-December, according to the IFDC.
The price of diammonium phosphate (DAP) increased by five times—from $262 to $1,218 per ton—from January 2007 to April 2008, but had fallen to $469 per ton in mid-December, they say.
"The high fertilizer prices caused 'demand destruction.' Farmers were unable or unwilling to pay two or three times the prices of early 2007," the IFDC says. The collapse of the global credit market, a trade recession, and slowdown in world economic growth worsened the situation.
Potash is the only fertilizer whose price is still rising. Standard grade muriate of potash, the most common source of potassium, sold for $172 per ton in January 2007 and $875 per ton in mid-December.
Potash prices have stayed high due to its shortage and difficulties in transporting Russian potash because of an enormous and expanding sinkhole near the Silvinit mines.
The price of urea, the world's most common nitrogen fertilizer, rose from about $280 to $405 per ton in 2007 and reached $452 in April 2008. The price then soared to $815 per ton in August, but has subsequently plunged to $247, lower than before the price spiral began, by mid-December, according to the IFDC.
The price of diammonium phosphate (DAP) increased by five times—from $262 to $1,218 per ton—from January 2007 to April 2008, but had fallen to $469 per ton in mid-December, they say.
"The high fertilizer prices caused 'demand destruction.' Farmers were unable or unwilling to pay two or three times the prices of early 2007," the IFDC says. The collapse of the global credit market, a trade recession, and slowdown in world economic growth worsened the situation.
Potash is the only fertilizer whose price is still rising. Standard grade muriate of potash, the most common source of potassium, sold for $172 per ton in January 2007 and $875 per ton in mid-December.
Potash prices have stayed high due to its shortage and difficulties in transporting Russian potash because of an enormous and expanding sinkhole near the Silvinit mines.