Rising Fertilizer Prices Smell Bad

Some governments who were fertilizer exporters are now, in order to assure plentiful supplies for their growers, placing stiff tariffs on fertilizers. One example is China, which recently placed a 100 percent price tariff on fertilizer exports.

Market experts do not see fertilizer prices decreasing in the foreseeable future. Indications are that in recent years prices have doubled and even tripled. The simple reason is that this is the result of increased acreage and the production of ethanol-based crop production in the Midwest and other parts of the country, as well as increased production of major crops on a global basis in India, China and Brazil.

Another big reason is that high energy prices also have affected the availability of natural gas, which can be sold more profitably as fuel than as a key ingredient in the production of nitrogen-based fertilizers.

An additional factor is that foreign governments understand that there?EUR??,,????'?????<