Fertiliser sales have been put on pause this week in the wake of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Supply and price of urea-based products is the real concern among importers, some of which pulled price lists and existing quotations on Wednesday.
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.
“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.
It said it is prioritising its regular and long-standing customers and members, and that it will continue to monitor markets.
Increase in prices
Other merchants and co-ops have moved to increase prices, where supply is available in yards. However, according to industry reports, a lot of what is sitting in yards is already forward sold.
One fertiliser importer warned of serious price hikes for new orders of protected urea at retail level, if unrest in the Middle East continues.
“Merchants and co-ops have enough deliveries on their books to get them to the middle of April. There has been a lot of forward selling – that’s where all the value was mopped up. Anyone coming to the market today is nailed, they’re on the new price.”
Prices being quoted for protected urea by ArraTipp as the paper went to print had risen to €660/t and €440/t for CAN.
The IFA and ICMSA have said that the conflict in the Middle East must not be used to inflate fertiliser prices.
This article was updated on 5 March with a comment from Dairygold.
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