Melbourne-Sana
The continuous rise in energy prices and the restrictions imposed on exports in Australia has resulted in a significant increase in fertilizer prices, which in turn leads to a rise in food prices worldwide.
According to the British Guardian newspaper, economic analysts expect that farmers will have to ration the use of fertilizers significantly due to the high prices, which leads to disruption of the global food supply.
The newspaper quoted data from the Thomas Elder Market Foundation that fertilizer prices in Australia amounted to 1,320 dollars per ton, with high prices and costs of purchasing, shipping and unloading, in addition to a significant shortage of labor.
Andrew Whitelaw, an agricultural market analyst, pointed out that fertilizer prices have witnessed successive increases since the beginning of the year, but they have witnessed a significant jump in prices since last August. It is one of the key ingredients that ensures our ability to feed the world.”
Whitelaw attributed the main rise in fertilizer prices to the high prices of energy used in the production of fertilizers, namely natural gas and coal, which exceeded the maximum prices, pointing out that high energy prices affected the largest international suppliers to Australia, who thus worked to protect supplies to their local markets.
Australia imports about 60 percent of its fertilizer needs from countries such as China, Russia and Morocco, but the high global prices driven by the lack of supply and the distance will lead to successive rises in shipping costs and consequently higher fertilizer prices, higher food prices at the global level, and disruption of its supplies around the world.
Amer Dawa