It’s been a slow few weeks for most fertilizer markets, not just in the United States but globally. While several factors are adding to the buying slowdown, hesitant growers seem to be part of it. Many are struggling with high fertilizer prices and lower commodity prices, hoping the two markets soon find a more comfortable equilibrium.

This week, offers for DAP in New Orleans dropped below the $1,000-mark and some are speculating that the downturn is not just a fluke. “There are fewer buyers in the market and exports, particularly to India, are no longer propping up our domestic market,” observes Tom Mulrooney, phosphates product manager for CHS.

Power was returned to some areas in the Gulf region this week, after it was lost during Hurricane Gustav, causing production shutdowns in several fertilizer plants in the region. Updated tracking of the next big storm – Hurricane Ike – shows it maybe less threatening to Louisiana. The storm is expected to hit land sometime this weekend, with the brunt of the projected category 3 hurricane being felt on the Texas coast, between Galveston and Brownsville. So at this time, it appears that most of the Louisiana fertilizer plants should be unaffected by it, and continue to return to production this week.

If your business is looking for help in better managing buying risk in the volatile fertilizer markets, you’ll want to register for an interactive webinar sponsored by Green Markets. The October 29^th webinar will feature advice from Keith Swanson, manager, crop nutrients dealer risk management services for CHS.

The United States is one of several countries aggressively moving toward producing ammonia from coal. Along with China, Australia, India and Poland, U.S. manufacturers hope to make use of more abundant coal rather than pay for expensive natural gas.

The head of the leading world wheat research center says yes, and he said so publicly last week. Putting it in rather stark terms, Thomas Lumpkin, director general of CIMMYT, said that resistance to biotech wheat from rich countries was hurting food security in poor countries.