News

Nutrien CEO says volatility still persists for price, availability strong for inputs

The world’s largest crop nutrient producer and ag retailer says price and availability for inputs remains a mixed bag.

President and CEO of Nutrien Ken Seitz say the company is monitoring fertilizer production in Russia and Belarus. “These supply challenges continue to persist.  Demand levels, we think, are reasonable.  We think…we are experiencing…at the moment some volatility, but (for) farmers it’s still affordable at the moment.”

He tells Brownfield prices should stabilize for fertilizer and crop nutrients. “Some of that high priced material, we believe, is now moving through the channel if it hasn’t already.  If we look at the size of the crop and the health of the American farmer in wide-open application season, hopefully some of this price volatility is behind us and we expect trend-level demands.”

Seitz says he expects some farmers to lock in input prices in the fall for the 2024 crop instead of the spring.

Brownfield interviewed Seitz at the 2023 Ag Outlook Forum in Kansas City, which was presented by the Kansas City Agribusiness Council and Agri-Pulse.

Brownfield’s Carah Hart contributed to this story.