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Steadily growing global demand for grain crops has generated higher crop prices and increased demand for fertilizers, particularly imported fertilizers. As corn prices remain high, U.S. corn growers are expected to plant 97.3 million acres of corn in 2013, representing the largest planting since 1936.
In 2011, the United States imported $13.4 billion worth of fertilizer and produced $24.1 billion worth of fertilizer. The dollar value of imported fertilizer to the United States increased 466.2 percent between 2002 and 2011, more than three times the growth rate of domestic fertilizer production during the same period.
Year | U.S. production | U.S. imports |
---|---|---|
2002 | $9,965,000,000 | $2,361,746,253 |
2003 | 11,026,000,000 | 3,572,452,412 |
2004 | 12,551,000,000 | 4,382,482,411 |
2005 | 13,455,000,000 | 6,104,231,573 |
2006 | 13,237,000,000 | 5,802,049,514 |
2007 | 18,222,000,000 | 7,608,153,202 |
2008 | 25,226,000,000 | 13,420,200,284 |
2009 | 19,845,000,000 | 5,721,979,839 |
2010 | 20,985,000,000 | 9,461,057,401 |
2011 | 24,135,000,000 | 13,373,370,150 |
Prior to 2010, import fertilizer prices were directly influenced by the demand for fertilizer as well as the price of natural gas, a key component in the manufacture of many fertilizers. Falling domestic natural gas prices over the past few years appeared to have had comparatively little impact on fertilizer prices, which trended up primarily because of ever-increasing demand for fertilizer. Because domestic fertilizer production was insufficient, fertilizer imports increased in order to supply the demand generated by high grain prices. However, the second half of 2012 exhibited a reversal of the recent trend. Although grain prices reached record highs, fertilizer applications were reduced for crops that were failing from drought conditions.
Month | Import fertilizer | Export corn | Import natural gas |
---|---|---|---|
Dec 2007 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
Jan 2008 | 110.5 | 111.9 | 102.2 |
Feb 2008 | 124.3 | 120.8 | 111.2 |
Mar 2008 | 130.6 | 130.5 | 118.6 |
Apr 2008 | 136.1 | 137.3 | 126.5 |
May 2008 | 138 | 137.3 | 138.8 |
Jun 2008 | 146.9 | 141.7 | 152.1 |
Jul 2008 | 159.2 | 163.7 | 159.2 |
Aug 2008 | 165.9 | 116.9 | 126.3 |
Sep 2008 | 189.7 | 129.8 | 102.9 |
Oct 2008 | 190.4 | 107.7 | 98.9 |
Nov 2008 | 184.4 | 96.3 | 95.2 |
Dec 2008 | 168.4 | 80.2 | 95.1 |
Jan 2009 | 137.1 | 100.1 | 88.1 |
Feb 2009 | 133.3 | 93.9 | 76 |
Mar 2009 | 133.6 | 89.5 | 64.5 |
Apr 2009 | 128.4 | 97.5 | 54.8 |
May 2009 | 142.8 | 99.3 | 52.5 |
Jun 2009 | 130.5 | 107.1 | 54.7 |
Jul 2009 | 114.6 | 86.1 | 50.1 |
Aug 2009 | 114.7 | 88.3 | 50 |
Sep 2009 | 119.3 | 81.9 | 42.9 |
Oct 2009 | 129.5 | 89.3 | 50.4 |
Nov 2009 | 131.6 | 95.6 | 64.1 |
Dec 2009 | 133.8 | 96.8 | 73.2 |
Jan 2010 | 136.5 | 99.1 | 86.2 |
Feb 2010 | 138.9 | 90.6 | 86.5 |
Mar 2010 | 147 | 93.5 | 74.2 |
Apr 2010 | 150.6 | 86.5 | 63.7 |
May 2010 | 152.8 | 91.4 | 61.4 |
Jun 2010 | 146.4 | 87.2 | 61.3 |
Jul 2010 | 143.9 | 90.7 | 64.5 |
Aug 2010 | 141.9 | 95.3 | 61.3 |
Sep 2010 | 146.3 | 105.2 | 57.7 |
Oct 2010 | 154.6 | 114.4 | 55.7 |
Nov 2010 | 162.9 | 136 | 56.8 |
Dec 2010 | 166.4 | 130.6 | 62.6 |
Jan 2011 | 176.8 | 140.9 | 69.1 |
Feb 2011 | 179.2 | 151.7 | 75.1 |
Mar 2011 | 182.6 | 165.1 | 65.4 |
Apr 2011 | 187.3 | 169.4 | 64.7 |
May 2011 | 189.6 | 167.7 | 66.7 |
Jun 2011 | 199.1 | 173 | 66.4 |
Jul 2011 | 204.7 | 153.1 | 64.1 |
Aug 2011 | 205.8 | 165.4 | 66 |
Sep 2011 | 208.7 | 173.9 | 63.2 |
Oct 2011 | 211.1 | 140.9 | 57.2 |
Nov 2011 | 215.5 | 153.5 | 59.2 |
Dec 2011 | 209 | 140.9 | 56.9 |
Jan 2012 | 199.5 | 149.7 | 53.1 |
Feb 2012 | 196.2 | 149.3 | 47.4 |
Mar 2012 | 192.1 | 153.1 | 41.3 |
Apr 2012 | 204.5 | 153.7 | 35.4 |
May 2012 | 220.4 | 153.5 | 34 |
Jun 2012 | 221.3 | 140.7 | 36.7 |
Jul 2012 | 207.4 | 167.7 | 41.3 |
Aug 2012 | 209.4 | 186.3 | 43.4 |
Sep 2012 | 210.3 | 182.6 | 43.2 |
Oct 2012 | 209.1 | 177.5 | 46.5 |
Nov 2012 | 206.6 | 175.7 | 57.4 |
Dec 2012 | 204.6 | 178.6 | 66.9 |
Jan 2013 | 200.5 | 163.8 | 62.8 |
Feb 2013 | 199.7 | 171.9 | 61.6 |
Mar 2013 | 199.5 | 168.8 | 60.7 |
Insufficient domestic fertilizer supplies and rising grain prices created greater demand for imported fertilizer and a subsequent rise in import fertilizer prices. Import fertilizer prices advanced 93.1 percent for the 3-year period from July 2009 to June 2012. The June 2012 price peak coincided with the high growth season, when most nitrogen fertilizers are applied to corn.
Grain prices have increased over the past 3 years. Corn has been the most important of the grains, accounting for the most acreage, using the most fertilizer, and recently setting price records in 2012.
Inorganic fertilizer production is an energy-intensive process, relying heavily on electricity, petroleum, and especially natural gas for manufacture and transport. Natural gas constitutes approximately 74 percent of the energy used to manufacture fertilizers. High energy prices were cited as a principle factor that led to the record fertilizer prices reached in 2008.
These data are from the International Price Program. To learn more, see “Growing demand for fertilizer keeps prices high” (HTML) (PDF), by Jon Ruder and Edwin Bennion, Beyond the Numbers, May 2013.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Growing demand for fertilizer keeps prices high at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2013/ted_20130524.htm (visited October 31, 2024).