Russia, Ukraine Conflict Affects Global Fertilizer Outlook

The Russian and Ukraine conflict is most definitely having effects of agriculture even here in the United States.  Farm assistant, Aaron Zimmerman catches up with Josh Linville, Director of Fertilizer for StoneX to chat about what is happening with fertilizer globally right now due to the current situation.  Prior to this conflict there were already issues arising in the world fertilizer market as Russia is a major exporter of all three of the major fertilizer components.  Now that Russia has taken action, we are seeing things change and prices on fertilizer has definitely responded within the last 24-48 hours. Linville points out that it is a bit of an emotional reaction as much of the world is nervous as to what might happen.

Now that more sanctions are being put on Russia, we are seeing exports and trade stopping.  Even outside of Russia, we are seeing the affect as well.  The Black Sea is a big area for moving grains and fertilizer.  Ships now however are avoiding transport through the Black Sea, as reports of missiles and attacks continue there.

Linville is confident that the current supply of fertilizer that the United States will need for the upcoming growing season seems to be sitting alright.  Because we are part of the world market, we do have to look at things from a price perspective, and there is a lot of uncertainty there.  That uncertainty not only pertains to price and supply right now, but if this continues, what things may look like into the future.  Linville suggests that when deciding what things need to happen going forward, try to take emotion out of the equation as much as possible and focus on the numbers and data to make sound decisions.