Farm Fertilizer Prices Surge on World Subsidy Spat

Increases in diammonium phosphate (DAP) and other phosphate fertilizers by around 1/3 in the last quarter are symptoms of a global trade disagreement between the U.S. and large suppliers in Russia and Morocco. After fertilizer company Mosaic petitioned the federal government to investigate unfair duties on imported fertilizer, those export partners — the two largest suppliers for U.S. farmers — sharply slowed supplies entering the U.S. market, tightening domestic supplies and causing prices to move sharply higher. The result of the import decline: Mosaic now has control of around 90% of the domestic phosphate market in the U.S. as other suppliers look to different export partners to secure key input stocks. See more on the situation.