DTN Retail Fertilizer Trends

OMAHA (DTN) -- Average retail prices for all eight major fertilizers were down again during the first full week of August 2024, according to sellers surveyed by DTN.

This marks the third week in a row that prices for all fertilizers fell just slightly. DTN designates a significant price move as anything 5% or more.

DAP had an average price of $744 per ton, MAP $818/ton, potash $503/ton and urea $504/ton. 10-34-0 had an average price of $640/ton, anhydrous $675/ton, UAN28 $338/ton and UAN32 $376/ton.

On a price per pound of nitrogen basis, the average urea price was at $0.55/lb.N, anhydrous $0.41/lb.N, UAN28 $0.60/lb.N and UAN32 $0.59/lb.N.

Fertilizer Canada is calling on the Canadian federal government and Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon to take immediate action to assist the CN Railway, the Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) and Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) to prevent a rail strike, which already has affected the flow of fertilizer, according to a news release from Fertilizer Canada.

On Monday, CN Railway and CPKC issued embargoes immediately halting fertilizer shipments 10 days ahead of an anticipated labor disruption. The threat of a work stoppage has already begun to impact the movement of fertilizer, according to the news release (https://fertilizercanada.ca/…).

"A work stoppage that prevents the transportation of fertilizer will have potentially disastrous effects on crop yields and food security," according to the release.

Fertilizer Canada urges the federal government to amend the Canada Labor Code to strengthen the bargaining process. According to polling, three in four Canadians (75%) agree this needs to be done to strengthen the bargaining process for those working in Canada's supply chains to prevent disruptions and their consequences.

Karen Proud, president and CEO of Fertilizer Canada, said the long-lasting and cascading impacts of labor disruptions are felt before and after the stoppage takes place.

"Farmers around the world rely on Canada's fertilizer industry to maximize crop yields and the fertilizer industry relies on rail to get our products to market," Proud said.

Seventy-five percent of all fertilizer produced and used in Canada is moved by rail. There are very limited alternatives to rail to ship fertilizer products.

Canadian, American and international farmers rely on Canadian fertilizer to maximize crop yields. Fertilizer is responsible for half of the world's current food production, according to the news release.

DTN Cash Basis Analyst Mary Kennedy wrote about the possible rail strike in her Market Matters Blog on Monday of this week (https://www.dtnpf.com/…).

All fertilizers but two are lower compared to one year ago. Both MAP and anhydrous are now 7% more expensive looking back to last year.

The remaining six fertilizers are lower. DAP is 2% less expensive, UAN32 is 6% lower, UAN28 is 8% less expensive, 10-34-0 is 10% lower, potash is 11% less expensive and urea is 13% lower in price compared to a year prior.

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/….

All retail fertilizer prices were lower last week, although none were down a significant amount, which DTN designates as 5%. You can read about it here: https://www.dtnpf.com/….

DRY
Date Range	DAP	MAP	POTASH	UREA
Aug 7-Aug 11 2023	758	764	566	576
Sep 4-8 2023	738	745	518	563
Oct 2-6 2023	705	791	508	573
Oct 30-Nov 3 2023	713	801	508	573
Nov 27-Dec 1 2023	715	820	518	552
Dec 25-29 2023	721	812	514	536
Jan 22-26 2024	734	809	509	527
Feb 19-23 2024	749	812	506	534
Mar 18-22 2024	778	823	506	574
Apr 15-19 2024	780	830	513	585
May 13-17 2024	789	829	511	556
Jun 10-14 2024	779	827	507	525
Jul 8-12 2024	758	822	504	507
Aug 5-9 2024	744	818	503	504
LIQUID
Date Range	10-34-0	ANHYD	UAN28	UAN32
Aug 7-Aug 11 2023	714	634	369	400
Sep 4-8 2023	611	693	356	390
Oct 2-6 2023	609	790	354	414
Oct 30-Nov 3 2023	611	826	358	415
Nov 27-Dec 1 2023	595	847	341	409
Dec 25-29 2023	599	792	340	394
Jan 22-26 2024	610	770	335	390
Feb 19-23 2024	615	764	339	393
Mar 18-22 2024	628	793	358	402
Apr 15-19 2024	641	794	364	418
May 13-17 2024	642	792	364	418
Jun 10-14 2024	642	737	352	400
Jul 8-12 2024	642	696	339	378
Aug 5-9 2024	640	675	338	376

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

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