Online fertiliser sales round the corner

By Roger Chesher

E-COMMERCE featured heavily at Smithfield 2000 this week, with at least two exhibitors now on the brink of supplying fertiliser over the internet.

The CLA, which launched its service on Sunday, hinted of links with a major manufacturer.

Globalfarmers.com expects to be trading fertiliser in January.

While it did not seem possible to actually purchase fertiliser over the web today (29 November) one dot-com company, Farm Express, was yesterday offering a range of ammonium nitrate-based blended NPKs at extremely low prices for delivery before Christmas.

The Bunn fertilisers group, one of Britains largest blenders, has been a pioneer in fertiliser web site development.

Currently it offers order tracking as a service to customers. Full purchase of fertiliser from Bunns cannot be far behind.

Most players in the industry agree that e-commerce will be upon us sooner rather than later but the logistical problems of delivering such a bulky order, together with financial, statutory and health and safety requirements still present some obstacles.

Meanwhile, shakeouts continue in the industry as employees of the machinery division of Hydro-Chafer stage a management buy out.

The Hydro-owned N Sensor will be leased to them and liquid fertiliser will continue to be supplied by the parent company.

Long-awaited changes in the ownership of Kemira in the UK will not now be in place until next year.

Importers continue to cover their businesses against the still rumoured Russian embargo whilst the forward January market begins to pick up.

Prices remain largely unchanged.

CURRENT PRICES

IRELAND