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Global phosphate supplies tight

The vice president of fertilizer with Stone X says global phosphate supplies are tight.

Josh Linville says China, the world’s top producer, is reducing phosphate exports by around 5 million tons this year thus creating supply challenges.

“The result is we are starting this week with the highest phosphate to corn ratio that we have ever seen for this time of year.”  He says, “We have beaten 2008. What that means is the farmers in Canada and America are paying more bushels of corn to pay for that phosphate input than they ever have in their lives.”

He tells Brownfield, “From a US perspective, you know we’ve shut off four of the five largest exporting countries in the world because of either duties or tariffs and then our own production has been faltering, been struggling.”  He says, “It’s just very, very hard to see a road forward in the short term that has prices lower.”

Linville says India is also increasing its phosphate purchases further impacting global supplies.

AUDIO: Josh Linville – Stone X