Fertiliser suppliers reaped windfall profits on the back of the unprecedented hike in farmgate prices last year, the Irish Farmers Journal can reveal. Inflated supply-chain margins on sales of urea, CAN and 27:2.5:5, which account for 83% of total imports, delivered up to an additional €200m in margins to fertiliser importers and merchants.
Fertiliser suppliers reaped windfall profits on the back of the unprecedented hike in farmgate prices last year, the Irish Farmers Journal can reveal.
Inflated supply-chain margins on sales of urea, CAN and 27:2.5:5, which account for 83% of total imports, delivered up to an additional €200m in margins to fertiliser importers and merchants.
Irish Farmers Journal analysis of CSO trade data shows that the margin on urea surged to €263/t last year, up from €54/t for the 2020-21 season.
This is almost a 500% increase.
Similarly, the margin on CAN sales grew four-fold, rising from €61/t to a massive €238/t.
Record margins were also secured on 27:2.5:5 imports, with margins increasing from €92/t in 2020-21 to €218/t last year.
Farmers paid record prices for fertiliser last year, with the cost of urea increasing from an average of €380/t in 2021 to over €1,000/t by 2022. The average cost of CAN rose from €273/t to €827/t during the same period.
The figures come as farmers await spring fertiliser prices.
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