Fertilizer market in disarray in 2013/14 - new orientation needed
The international fertilizer market has been plunged into severe turbulence in 2013/14. The termination of the joint distribution agreement between Belarus and Russia has certainly contributed to this, but this is probably not the only and decisive reason.
The price relationships speak another clear language. The abrupt fall in the price of maize has pulled urea prices down significantly, despite a stubbornly stable natural gas price. This repeatedly confirms that N pricing is not primarily based on costs, but on the added value of fertilizer use via market crop prices - the price of maize being a good example.
The KAS price always occupies a special position because the product is predominantly traded in Europe/Germany. Internationally, urea is the market leader.
The forward prices for the coming weeks do not indicate any significant changes in this development. There is still a need for clarification for early fertilizer purchases before trading takes place.
