DTN Retail Fertilizer Trends

Anhydrous Leads Major Fertilizer Prices Lower

Russ Quinn
By  Russ Quinn , DTN Staff Reporter
Connect with Russ:
Only one fertilizer had a significant price change compared to last month. Anhydrous fertilizer was down 5% compared to last month and had an average price of $770 per ton. (DTN chart)

OMAHA (DTN) -- Average retail fertilizer prices continued to be mostly lower in the third week of January 2024, according to sellers surveyed by DTN.

For the fourth consecutive week, six of the eight major fertilizers were lower in price compared to last month while the remaining two fertilizers were slightly higher. DTN designates a significant move as anything 5% or more.

Only one fertilizer had a significant price change compared to last month. Anhydrous was down 5% compared to last month and had an average price of $770 per ton.

The remaining five fertilizers were down just slightly from the prior month. MAP had an average price of $810 per ton, potash $510/ton, urea $530/ton, UAN28 $334/ton and UAN32 $391/ton.

Two fertilizers, meanwhile, were just slightly higher in price compared to last month. DAP had an average price of $727/ton and 10-34-0 $601/ton.

On a price per pound of nitrogen basis, the average urea price was $0.58/lb.N, anhydrous $0.47/lb.N, UAN28 $0.60/lb.N and UAN32 $0.61/lb.N.

All fertilizers except one are now lower by double digits compared to one year ago. MAP is 6% lower, DAP is 15% less expensive, 10-34-0 is 20% lower, urea is 26% less expensive, potash is 29% lower and anhydrous, UAN28 and UAN32 are all 38% lower compared to a year prior.

USDA will invest $207 million in renewable energy and domestic fertilizer projects, according to a USDA news release. Many of the projects are being funded by President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act.

The announcement was made on Monday by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack at the 105th annual American Farm Bureau Federation convention in Salt Lake City, Utah.

USDA is awarding $207 million in 42 states for projects through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) and the Fertilizer Production Expansion Program (FPEP). Projects financed through FPEP include $50 million for seven projects in seven states.

"President Biden and USDA are ensuring farmers, ranchers and small businesses are not only a part of the clean energy economy, but directly benefitting from it," Secretary Vilsack said.

DTN did a deep dive into the previous FPEP announcement in March of 2023 (https://www.dtnpf.com/…). DTN's analysis showed eight USDA grants at this time will lead to very little expected fertilizer expansion.

A Saskatchewan-based company is creating a "living lab" to learn about using prairie biomass to generate heat for various industries, including potash mining. You can read about it here: https://www.dtnpf.com/….

DTN gathers fertilizer price bids from agriculture retailers each week to compile the DTN Fertilizer Index. DTN first began reporting data in November 2008.

In addition to national averages, MyDTN subscribers can access the full DTN Fertilizer Index, which includes state averages, here: https://www.mydtn.com/….

DRY
Date Range DAP MAP POTASH UREA
Jan 16-Jan 20 2023 859 865 721 712
Feb 13-Feb 17 2023 838 857 692 686
Mar 13-Mar 17 2023 825 821 655 638
Apr 10-14 2023 821 809 642 625
May 8-12 2023 828 826 627 664
June 5-9 2023 822 832 618 622
July 3-7 2023 824 827 619 615
July 31-Aug 4 2023 766 773 579 572
Aug 28-Sep 1 2023 730 736 518 563
Sep 25-29 2023 703 777 508 570
Oct 23-27 2023 713 799 507 574
Nov 20-24 2023 713 811 512 570
Dec 18-22 2023 721 815 517 537
Jan 15-19 2024 727 810 510 530
LIQUID
Date Range 10-34-0 ANHYD UAN28 UAN32
Jan 16-Jan 20 2023 755 1238 536 634
Feb 13-Feb 17 2023 754 1213 483 572
Mar 13-Mar 17 2023 740 1059 428 521
Apr 10-14 2023 740 1003 427 507
May 8-12 2023 739 910 423 517
June 5-9 2023 739 787 411 478
July 3-7 2023 730 752 396 466
July 31-Aug 4 2023 713 638 378 411
Aug 28-Sep 1 2023 607 680 355 391
Sep 25-29 2023 610 767 353 413
Oct 23-27 2023 610 825 360 418
Nov 20-24 2023 583 833 338 402
Dec 18-22 2023 599 807 342 402
Jan 15-19 2024 601 770 334 391

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

Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @RussQuinnDTN

Russ Quinn