Buoyant Market for Fertilisers

After a quiet first week to July when farmers and merchants assessed the new structured terms offered by the manufacturers, the majors report satisfactory and in some cases buoyant business.

So much so that the July books have already been closed and the August price initiated.

This means that the farm price for nitrogen is around 111/t for any material still held by the merchant, 113/t for new supplies.

This is for full loads on articulated lorries in half tonne bags. Smaller loads and 50kg bags now attract a considerable surcharge.

Nitrogen with sulphur, e.g.27N .30S, attracts a premium of 2/t over the nitrogen price.

Hydro Nutrition has announced that operating income in the first half of 2000 is once more positive following years of losses.

Higher fertiliser prices have only compensated for higher raw material gas prices however, and any profit is due only to significant cost savings.

Terra will be the first to renegotiate gas prices, it is believed during the autumn, and the industry as a whole is concerned that high world gas prices will soon be reflected in the UK.

Plants in the USA have closed down for this reason as American farmers purchase imports from Russia where the concept of paying a market price for gas is still a novelty.

Whilst Hydro “Extran”, now imported at the lower analysis of 33.5%N, commands a small premium for quality, it has not maintained parity with UK produced 34.5%N and is selling at 2/t less.

Meanwhile, in Ireland the market is very quiet indeed and whilst prices have risen, there has been little volume sold to test those price rises.

The new market has yet to start in the notoriously unstructured marketplace of Ireland. Will the British changes be reflected there next season?

CURRENT MARKETS (prices in )