News

Mosaic feels for growers but doesn’t set prices

Mosaic Company says they are trying to keep their fertilizer prices “rational” for growers.

Mosaic’s Ben Pratt, senior vice president of government and public affairs, tells Brownfield Ag News prices are on par with fertilizer around the world.

“We completely understand the frustration with the rising cost of all inputs, frankly, and fertilizer prices perhaps most of all. I think it’s important, though, for producers to understand that Mosaic doesn’t set the prices of fertilizer. We don’t dictate prices in different markets.”

Pratt says the price hike has a lot to do with global supply and demand and little to do with countervailing duties on Russian and Moroccan imports. He says there have been more imports of phosphate fertilizer into the US than in 2019.

“So that tells you that what happened in the wake of the countervailing duties is that   other countries, other producers of phosphate fertilizers started importing into the U.S. to take the place of those Russian and Moroccan imports.”

Pratt says China, whose government is banning phosphate exports from that country to meet its own demand, is having a big impact on the market.

Six leading farm groups are asking the US Court of International Trade to overturn tariffs on phosphate fertilizers imported from Morocco.

Pratt says Mosaic expects the tight supply and demand to continue into most of next year but does not expect fertilizer prices to continue to rise.