Until fertiliser importers have absolute clarity on fertiliser deliveries coming into the country, they will not be quoting prices for their customers, Liam Woulfe of Grassland Agro has said.

He told the Irish Farmers Journal that it could be a few weeks before his company can start quoting again.

There needs to be an expectation at merchant, co-op and farmer level that they won’t get fertiliser supplies at the time that they want it, he said.

“Our priority is getting everyone fed to the end of April. If we don’t have what we want now, we might have it in two or three weeks’ time. We need to pace ourselves and moderate our expectations. This is all with a view to honouring contracts that haven’t been serviced yet,” he said.

Woulfe said he was concerned about supplies after April, with availability tight. He said farmers should only expect to get the amount of product that they require on their farm.

There have been massive delays in products coming into the country as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with knock-on impacts to fertiliser supply chains in the form of gas and ammonia availability.

Pause on sales

Last week, some co-ops and merchants suspended fertiliser sales on the back of importers suspending their quotes.

Glanbia hit pause on its fertiliser sales last Wednesday, with a spokesperson adding that it was working to clear the backlog. The four west Cork co-ops of Lisavaird, Drinagh, Bandon and Barryroe, and Drummonds, also suspended fertiliser sales.

CAN is proving difficult to secure, with one industry source stating it was gone “through the roof” and trading at €950/t, including cost, insurance and freight but that is before any transport costs and so on are included once it lands in Ireland.

Over the last number of days, the merchants that still have product on hand were selling urea from €930/t to €1,000/t, CAN at €710/t to €780/t and compound products such as 18-6-12 from €750/ to €840/t.