Graham Dunn, URALCHEM's Agent in the UK and Ireland, commented on the fertiliser market in the UK and Ireland in the spring of 2013:
The fertiliser market, both here in the UK, and in Ireland has been ruled by the weather for the last 12 months. This time last year we were experiencing drought conditions with crops suffering from lack of moisture.
From April 2012 until today, rain has been incessant and following a poor harvest for grain and dismal forage conservation farmers have experienced difficulties getting crops into the ground and those that were successfully planted are struggling to grow in waterlogged fields.
The net effect has been very poor demand for fertilizers at farm gate level driven by doubts about what crops the farm will require and also through poor cash flow on stock farms where stock have required heavy winter feed rations to compensate for poor quality forage.
This has lead to a peak in demand for fertilizers now being experienced and inadequate transport with which to meet the demand. Grassland farmers are eager to get stock turned out to cheap grass and arable farmers are needing additional volumes to apply to those crops they have managed to drill.
In the short term, prices of fertilizers will firm as demand builds further but eager eyes will be looking forward to the new season which may start in May and wondering if they could get cheaper product then.
Graham Dunn has been URALCHEM’s agent in the UK and Ireland for the last 5 years.
Dunn has spent more than 30 years working in the UK and Irish fertiliser markets; 17 years with Kemira where he acted as Industrial Fertiliser sales manager and then as General manager of a trading company supplying fertilisers to the UK and Irish markets.
Graham has been active with the establishment of FIAS for the UK companies working with Government bodies to generate a scheme that is now fully accepted by the industry.
