Farmers in France have stepped up fertilizer purchases this month amid fears of shortages as they wrestle with mounting costs that could affect next year’s harvests, the French unit of fertilizer group Yara said.
Soaring gas prices have unsettled nitrogen fertilizer markets that rely on gas as an input, leading manufacturers including Yara to reduce output and causing fertilizer prices to triple.
That has raised the prospect of some farmers planting fewer fertilizer-intensive crops such as corn or spreading less of the nutrient, adding uncertainty to grain markets that have reached multi-year highs in 2021 on supply concerns.
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Fertilizer orders in France had been slower than usual in recent months as farmers balked at rising costs, with Yara observing a 10 to 15 per cent lag versus usual levels by the start of October, Nicolas Broutin, president of Yara France, said.
“During October there has been a wave of panic as people started talking about shortages,” he told Reuters. “The products are available but they are extremely expensive.”
The upturn in demand at a time of constrained supply reinforced a rise in prices triggered by surging international fertilizer markets, he said.
