May 2 2011
Fertiliser prices to stay high amid rising corn prices in US
High corn prices are expected to keep the price of fertiliser above average for a longer period of time in the US.
The increase will cut into farmers' profit margins and possibly discourage them from planting more corn acres when supplies of corn are the tightest since the mid-1990s. The price of fertiliser spiked to US$900 per tonne while corn prices reached US$7 per bushel.
In 2009, prices for nitrogen, in the form of anhydrous ammonia, dropped to about US$450/tonne. With corn well over US$7 per bushel, the price of fertiliser has jumped to US$780 per tonne.
Competition from South Korea, China and India is expected to keep prices from coming back down.