DTN Retail Fertilizer Trends

OMAHA (DTN) -- Retail fertilizer prices continued to show small increases the first week of September 2021, according to sellers surveyed by DTN. However, it's been four weeks since any fertilizer posted significant price changes, which DTN designates as 5% or greater.

All eight major fertilizers were higher compared to a month earlier, with potash increasing the most. It was up 2% to $575 per ton.

The remaining seven fertilizers saw price increases of 1% or less. DAP had an average price of $699/ton, MAP $757/ton, urea $558/ton, 10-34-0 $631/ton, anhydrous $750/ton, UAN28 $371/ton and UAN32 $422/ton.

On a price per pound of nitrogen basis, the average urea price was at $0.61/lb.N, anhydrous $0.46/lb.N, UAN28 $0.66/lb.N and UAN32 $0.66/lb.N.

When Hurricane Ida slammed into Louisiana at the end of August, it's high winds, heavy rains and a storm surge forced grain terminals along the lower Mississippi River to shift more grain and soybean exports to ports in the Pacific Northwest. (Read DTN's coverage here: https://www.dtnpf.com/….)

The weather also affected the region's fertilizer manufacturing facilities. CF Industries reported on Thursday, Sept. 9, that it had begun restarting its ammonia plants at the Donaldsonville Complex, according to a CF Industries news release.

The company shut down operations of the facilities ahead of the hurricane on Saturday, Aug. 28, as part of its contingency plans.

While the ammonia plants at Donaldsonville have restarted, other fertilizer facilities at the complex have not. CF says production of urea, nitric acid and urea ammonium nitrate will begin later.

"Shipping will proceed on an as-available basis," the news release said. "CF Industries will communicate directly with customers regarding impacts caused by Hurricane Ida."

Some in the fertilizer industry have already expressed concern about the availability of fertilizer this fall, and with one of the nation's largest nitrogen manufacturing plant offline for over a week, those concerns are likely to increase.

To read the full CF Industries news release, see https://www.cfindustries.com/….

Retail fertilizer prices compared to a year ago show prices for all fertilizers have increased significantly.

10-34-0 is now 38% more expensive, urea is 55% higher, DAP is 61% more expensive, both potash and UAN32 are 67% higher, MAP 70% more expensive, UAN28 is 72% higher and anhydrous is 73% more expensive compared to last year.

DTN surveys more than 300 retailers, gathering roughly 1,700 fertilizer price bids, to compile the DTN Fertilizer Index each week. In addition to national averages, MyDTN subscribers can access the full DTN Fertilizer Index, which includes state averages, here: https://www.mydtn.com/….

Farmers will need to fully consider all options when deciding how much nitrogen fertilizer apply for the 2022 crop, according to University of Minnesota Extension. You can read it here: https://www.dtnpf.com/….

Russ Quinn can be reached at russ.quinn@dtn.com

Follow him on Twitter at @RussQuinnDTN

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