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Urea prices down, but for how long?

The chief economist with The Fertilizer Institute says urea prices on the global market have returned to pre-Middle East conflict levels.

However, Veronica Nigh tells Brownfield, “Right now, those urea prices are back down as we’re seeing that global demand be a bit more in line with available global supply, but we shouldn’t necessarily get comfortable with that situation.”

She says urea demand picks up in the second half of the year, and even though hostilities have slowed through the signing of a Memo of Understanding by the U.S. and Iran, it’s likely disruptions to global trade will take time to work out.

“How long it really takes for the Strait of Hormuz to reopen and for trade flows to start returning to some normalcy and then see what those production impacts really look like.”  She says, “So, volatility, I’m sorry to say that I think that’s going to be what we continue to talk about.”

Nigh says nearly 50% of global urea exports have been impacted by the Strait’s closure.   

AUDIO: Veronica Nigh – The Fertilizer Institute