Arnie

Potash/Fertilizer Industry: The Week That Was

I find the whole fertilizer play to be very interesting given the additional high demand for food as a feed for animals and for bio-fuels. I thought the whole negotiating process with China and India was interesting in the way that India negotiated first instead of waiting for China to drive down the price. By going first India got the quantity they wanted but it looks like they paid a higher price $625/tonne vs. $575 for China. China only got 1 million of the 2.5 million tonnes they had bought the previous year. Being a backyard gardener, I was expecting other announcements on the sales of the 2 other fertilizers i.e. nitrogen and phosphorous. If you're growing crops, you really need the 3 main elements potassium (potash), nitrogen and phosphorous. If you have ever bought a bag of fertilizer you'll see the numbers e.g. 12-12-12 which refers to the percentage of each element in the bag. Potash is an important element, but it tends to stay in the soil unlike nitrogen and phosphorous which leaches out faster and needs to be continuously renewed.