Merchants and co-ops are quoting fertiliser prices significantly higher than last week, where quotes can be got at all.

Gouldings said in a letter to customers that it has been forced to withdraw prices due to sharp increases on international markets this week. The importer said that granular urea has already increased by $150 (€130) a tonne since the weekend, adding that Egyptian urea prices are at the highest since November 2022.

On the merchant side, Dairygold said it continues to sell fertiliser and take orders from customers to meet spring requirements. It flagged that there has been a “significant increase in demand” in recent days, driven both by market uncertainty linked to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and normal seasonal spring requirements on farms.

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“Overall, supplies of CAN and compound fertilisers remain adequate and are available across our branch network to meet regular customer demands for spring,” a spokesperson said.

“Supplies of urea are tighter due to ongoing disruption in the Middle East region.” Dairygold is continuing to deliver urea-based products against existing sales orders and is permitting limited new sales of urea through its branches.

Other merchants and co-ops have moved to increase price lists where supply is available in yards.

“Suppliers have stopped quoting new business I’d say, and have withdrawn all the price lists,” Pat Ryan, managing director of Liffey Mills, told the Irish Farmers Journal. His advice to farmers was to have enough fertiliser secured to cover requirements to the end of May.

Suppliers are offering 40% and 38% N urea plus sulphur in order to help stretch the product and are advising CAN as an alternative. Indications suggest that there was a lot of fertiliser imported into the country and purchased by farmers in the back end of 2025 and at the start of this year as they tried to get ahead of any price increases from the introduction of the CBAM tax.

Irish imports of nitrogen fertiliser were 38% higher than the five-year average in the five months from October 2025 to February 2026. IFA farm business chair Bill O’Keeffe said there are enough supplies in the country to get the farm sector through the coming months.

Short-term shortage ‘unlikely’

Origin Enterprises CEO Seán Coyle said there is not likely to be a shortage of fertiliser for the next six to eight weeks due to stocks already imported.

Coyle did warn, however, that a prolonged conflict in the Middle East would drive up prices “quite significantly”.

One fertiliser importer told the Irish Farmers Journal that prices of €800/t for protected urea at retail level are down the tracks if the unrest in the Middle East continues.

Iran is a major global supplier of urea, while other countries in the region such as Qatar are major suppliers of liquefied natural gas, a key component in fertiliser production. With all of that production currently off the global market due to the closure of the key trading route through the Strait of Hormuz, importers are struggling to find alternative supplies.

The extent to how much that will feed through to price and availability in Ireland will completely depend on how long the current conflict lasts, and how quickly shipments can return to their previous levels.

This article was updated on 5 March with a comment from Dairygold.