“There’s a special reverence for farming in China,” CRU Principle Nitrogen Consultant Alistair Wallace said. “They wanted to achieve self-sufficiency in fertilizers, to decouple domestic prices from overseas markets, and they overcooked it.”
Fortunes are won and lost betting on what China will do next in the fertilizer markets. Over the past decade and more, the People’s Republic dramatically increased its production capacity for the three main nutrients essential to maximise crop yields. While the prices of urea, phosphates and potash have slumped along with other commodities since mid-to-late 2015, China’s influence on the global markets is undiminished.
“There’s a special reverence for farming in China,” CRU Principle Nitrogen Consultant Alistair Wallace said. “They wanted to achieve self-sufficiency in fertilizers, to decouple domestic prices from overseas markets, and they overcooked it.”
