Fertiliser suppliers reaped windfall profits on the back of the unprecedented hike in farmgate prices last year, the Irish Farmers Journal can reveal.

Inflated supply-chain margins on sales of urea, CAN and 27:2.5:5, which account for 83% of total imports, delivered up to an additional €200m in margins to fertiliser importers and merchants.

Irish Farmers Journal analysis of CSO trade data shows that the margin on urea surged to €263/t last year, up from €54/t for the 2020-21 season.

This is almost a 500% increase.

Similarly, the margin on CAN sales grew four-fold, rising from €61/t to a massive €238/t.

Record margins were also secured on 27:2.5:5 imports, with margins increasing from €92/t in 2020-21 to €218/t last year.

Farmers paid record prices for fertiliser last year, with the cost of urea increasing from an average of €380/t in 2021 to over €1,000/t by 2022. The average cost of CAN rose from €273/t to €827/t during the same period.

The figures come as farmers await spring fertiliser prices.