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A weakening of sterling against the euro has led to a £15/t increase in the price of fertiliser, applied from the start of this week.
Just two weeks ago, sterling was valued around €1 = 83p, however, it has traded erratically since then, slumping to €1 = 93p at the start of this week, but recovering slightly over the last couple of days.
But the net result is that fertiliser has become more expensive to import into NI, and merchants are being faced with little option but to increase nitrogen prices. Higher prices have also been enforced by fertiliser manufacturers to balance nitrogen prices on either side of the Irish border.
Without it, there was potential to see a spike in cross border trading with Irish farmers opting to source nitrogen from NI merchants, leaving stocks unsold in merchant yard’s south of the border.
Price
The price rise now puts straight nitrogen products at £195 to £200/t for CAN, with Urea moving around the £280/t mark.
While prices have increased, nitrogen at £200/t is still £40/t cheaper when compared to the same month last year.
Compounds such as 25-5-5 or 27-4-4 will now be trading around £255 to £260/t with 24-6-12 close to £280/t.
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