This is a subscriber-only article
The latest price listings applying from 1 November 2021 put straight Nitrogen fertiliser (CAN) around the £580 to £600/t mark.
Driven on by a surge in natural gas prices, the latest CAN prices are triple what farmers were paying a year ago, and up £350/t on prices from mid-August 2021.
The November price lists also point to compound NPK products such as 25-5-5 at £50 to £60/t more than CAN, while products such as 24-6-12 are likely to have a £90/t premium over straight nitrogen.
Price quotes on urea are limited due to a shortage in supply, but some 40% nitrogen products are forecasted to cost over £750/t on the latest price listings.
In Britain, price reports this week put ammonium nitrate between £650 and £700/t.
Sales
Merchants offloading fertiliser this week indicate that CAN has been sold at between £450 and £480/t, a £200 to £230/t increase on late summer.
Sales are mainly coming from arable farmers finishing off winter planting and dairy farmers looking to purchase nitrogen now as a safeguard against further price hikes over the winter period.
Where fertiliser is being sold, merchants generally want payment in full on delivery.
Outlook
While global fertiliser prices are up, a shortage of natural gas in Europe has exacerbated the problem in the European fertiliser market.
A mild winter could help restore gas supplies, but most industry observers think that gas prices will remain high until next spring.
When gas prices do eventually settle, merchants expect fertiliser to come down in price just as quickly as it increased. As a result, none are locking into the market at present by forward buying.
Not only would this be a massive drain on working capital, merchants do not want to be caught out with over-priced stock.
SHARING OPTIONS: