Yara’s fertilizer terminal at Stockton, California. (Sebastian Braum photo, Yara.com)

Yara brings most European ammonia production back on stream

Rising fertilizer prices make resumption profitable

Oslo | Reuters — Yara has brought most of its European ammonia production back on line after prices of finished fertilizers rose to make up for a surge in the cost of gas, the Norwegian fertilizer manufacturer said on Wednesday. The company cut back ammonia production at a number of sites in Europe from September

CF Industries’ UAN plant at Donaldsonville in Louisiana. The company also makes UAN at plants in Ontario, Iowa and Oklahoma. (Thyssenkrupp-industrial-solutions.com)

Fertilizer shortage may lead to spring scramble

'It's next year's prices I'm worried about'

Reuters — A global shortage of nitrogen fertilizer is driving prices to record levels, prompting North America’s farmers to delay purchases and raising the risk of a spring scramble to apply the crop nutrient before planting season. The Texas Arctic Blast in February and Hurricane Ida in August disrupted U.S. fertilizer production. Then, prices of


(Alexey Rezvykh/iStock/Getty Images)

‘Perfect storm’ causes fertilizer price spikes

'Most of us are in a "wait-and-see" position'

MarketsFarm — Fertilizer prices have increased over the past year, but could be headed even higher as a recent confluence of events has caused a shortage — the effects of which may affect producers past the New Year. “Particularly, in the last few weeks, there have been a number of supply events which have really

Yara’s fertilizer terminal at Stockton, California. (Sebastian Braum photo, Yara.com)

Norway’s Yara curtails European ammonia output

Surge in price of natural gas cited

Oslo | Reuters — Norway’s Yara is curtailing ammonia production at a number of plants due to a surge in the price of natural gas, the fertilizer maker said Friday. “Record high natural gas prices in Europe are impacting ammonia production margins,” Yara said in a statement. “Including optimization of ongoing maintenance, Yara will by





(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Nutrien cuts profit forecast on weak ammonia prices

Reuters — Canadian fertilizer maker Nutrien on Monday cut its annual adjusted profit forecast as weaker-than-normal industrial demand held back prices for ammonia and urea ammonium nitrate. The company cut the top end of its 2020 adjusted earnings per share forecast to $1.90 from $2.10 earlier, while retaining the lower end at $1.50. Even as

The Belle, West Virginia DuPont plant on April 1, 1926, as the first high-pressure ammonia ever produced in North America began to flow.

No pressure

A new process promises to produce ammonia without the 
high energy requirements of the Haber-Bosch process

A new lower-energy catalytic reaction could change the way ammonia-based fertilizer is made in the future. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory say the approach uses small carbon spikes, aided by lithium salt and the application of an electrical field. “It’s a catalyst that operates completely based on the electric


Fertilizer Urea Prills

Broadcasting nitrogen in fall least efficient approach

It’s also the least environmentally friendly

Broadcasting in fall is the quickest and easiest way to apply nitrogen — and the least efficient. So why, anecdotally at least, does the practice seem to be on the increase? Bigger farms and a shortage of labour could be part of it. Moreover, nobody knows when poor weather will shut down field operations. And

ESN

Enhancing N efficiency

There are products available to protect you from nitrogen loss, 
as well as management techniques to apply

Leaching deep into the ground, gassing off into the atmosphere, soil denitrification from microbial activity — all ways you can lose your valuable nitrogen fertilizer. Finding ways to reduce these losses and help producers get more value from their N fertilizer is crucial, and that begins with understanding how these losses occur, said researcher Fabian