Both Ravensdown and Ballance Agri-nutrients announced new prices for its fertiliser products, as demand and short supply sees prices soar.
A tight global supply of superphosphate has led to Ravensdown capping its price of this fertiliser product at $367 a tonne until May 31.
Ravensdown general manager of sales and marketing Gary Bowick informed its customers of the new cap in an email, saying it was seeing unprecedented changes across the globe that are impacting supply and pricing.
“While we are currently in a good stock position on mainline products, the supply environment globally is under strain. With the northern hemisphere’s spring demand still yet to kick in, international supply is complicated by the high price of natural gas and countries restricting fertiliser exports. With strong international prices for food, demand for fertiliser even at elevated prices is expected to remain,” Bowick said.
Ravensdown along with Ballance Agri-nutrients also announced new prices for its other fertiliser products, which came into effect on December 2.
Urea prices lifted from $950-1190/t across both companies. Ravensdown lifted DAP prices from $1120-$1320, potash jumped from $898-$995 and granular ammonium sulphate has moved from $544-$662.
At Ballance, SustaiN jumped from $999-$1239/t, muriate of potash $910-$1000/t and sulphate of ammonia $569-$602/t.
Ballance general manager of sales Jason Minkhorst says pricing and supply of fertiliser was being impacted by very high demand and constrained supply due to extraordinarily high energy prices and China limiting exports.
“For example, in a recent large Pakistan tender there were no responses from global suppliers, which raises serious worries about food security in that part of the world. We are working hard to manage the surety of supply through our long-term relationships, but supply is tight,” Minkhorst said.
“We have absorbed as much as possible during this spring by delaying pricing increases as long as possible. Unfortunately, we cannot delay any further.”
Minkhorst says that with the market moving on price and the balancing act it was managing with material shipping delays, it did not have enough supply in certain lines to meet the potential swing in market demand.
“As a result we must move prices to be in line with global pricing to ensure we have stock available,” he said.
