| Submit your comments on this article |
| Economy |
| Fertilizer prices just hit a record high sparking fears of global starvation and the worst food insecurity level since World War II |
| 2022-03-23 |
| [YahooFinance] Farmers worldwide are feeling the sting of sanctions, as the Ukraine War has sent fertilizer prices soaring to new all-time highs, prompting concerns over a global food shortage. Fertilizer prices last week were nearly 10% higher than the week before according to Green Markets North America Fertilizer Price Index, the highest price point ever recorded. Prices are now 40% higher than a month ago, before the invasion of Ukraine. The surge in fertilizer prices reveals how dependent many of the world's farms are on Russian exports. Countries already afflicted by food insecurity now risk further production bottlenecks and food shortages at the worst possible time. RUSSIAN FERTILIZERS ARE EVERYWHERE The farming industry has been hit hard by the war and the political reaction in Russia to Western sanctions. Russia was the world’s top exporter of fertilizers in 2019, according to data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity, when Russia’s trade volume in fertilizer stood at nearly $9 billion. Russia and neighboring Belarus, which has also been hit by sanctions, are key exporters of several critical fertilizing compounds, including urea and potash, but curtailed exports of these products has caused prices to soar. Surging fertilizer prices have also been aggravated by higher costs for natural gas, a critical feedstock in producing nitrogen-based fertilizer, amid a U.S. ban of Russian oil imports and discussions in Europe to decouple from Russian energy. International shipping companies have largely suspended their activities in Russia, bringing global trade to a standstill. And in early March, Russian officials told fertilizer producers in the country to slow their exports in retaliation to Western sanctions. |
| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #10 DATELINE Pakistan: Taliban IED factory robbed at gunpoint, Ammonium Nitrate taken... |
| Posted by: magpie 2022-03-23 22:33 |
| #9 Ah'm gonna start a worm farm. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2022-03-23 22:24 |
| #8 So Farner Richard raises the price of his corn wheat and soybeans, gets more subsidies from Washington, which increases the deficit further, which crowds out other borrowing and pushed interest rates higher, which caused recession alongside high inflation. Seen that movie before. |
| Posted by: Claving Thomomp9292 2022-03-23 13:37 |
| #7 Fortunately, Farmer Richard has access to Federally sponsored loans, at the new inflationary interest rates of course. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2022-03-23 13:28 |
| #6 Small farmers are out of luck. US consumers too. "Illinois corn, wheat and soy farmer Richard Guebert has seen the effects firsthand. His fertilizer cost was $510 a ton last year, he said. This year, it’s $1,508. He has no choice but to pay it to meet his target crop yields, he said, and while the price he is paid for his grain will rise, too, “prices will reach a point where no one can afford to purchase them.” |
| Posted by: Snomoger Ulurong2848 2022-03-23 11:32 |
| #5 Small farmers are out of luck. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2022-03-23 11:09 |
| #4 In North America we can make it ourselves or buy the raw materials from Canada. We will be fine. As for the rest of the world the technical term is "Fucked". |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2022-03-23 10:48 |
| #3 Yeah, at the large consumer end, the contracts were concluded a long time ago, no doubt. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2022-03-23 10:02 |
| #2 pretty sure USA, Mexico and EU farmers have already bought and in many cases, already started applying, fertilizer the shortage will likely mostly affect the Southern Hemisphere countries |
| Posted by: Lord Garth 2022-03-23 09:59 |
| #1 Russian fertilizers are everywhere So is humanwaste |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2022-03-23 09:52 |