APRIL 2024 11 ash doubled—more than doubled by 130.5 percent, compared to 2021. Unsurprisingly, Canada was by far the world’s leading potash producer in 2022, with a large amount produced in Alberta and Saskatchewan. The Canadian fertilizer manufacturing industry was valued at $7.6 billion in 2023. Rabobank is a Dutch multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Utrecht, Netherlands, with offices worldwide, including corporate offices in Toronto. Rabobank has forecast an increase of close to five percent in total fertilizer consumption in 2024. It was noted that with fertilizer prices at lower levels and affordability being more positive, the world’s farmers are expected to increase sales into 2024. And that’s good news for every one of the Canadian fertilizer manufacturers. Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia have been at war for over two years now, which has curtailed their fertilizer production and shipments. There were shortages even before that during COVID-19, and before that, when flooding affected Louisiana fertilizer production, global fertilizer shipments took a hit. Canada’s fertilizer industry has smartly picked up the slack to provide fertilizer products for demanding customers worldwide. In 2021, Canadian fertilizer producer Nutrien Ltd., for example, increased its potash production by almost one million tonnes because of market demand. In 2022, Nutrien also increased its potash and nitrogen production. Although nitrogen and urea remain the industry’s largest products worldwide, phosphate also accounts for a significant portion of demand. While demand for fertilizer in Canada corresponds to farmer hectarage seeded and farmer incomes—a function of global crop prices—global prices depend on the strength (or weakness) of the Canadian dollar. Looking at data compiled by the research department of Statista (www.statista.com), Wesfarmers ranked as the largest fertilizer company in the world as of January 1, 2024, at US$42.29 billion, with Nutrien ranking second at US$24.22 billion. Wesfarmers is an Australian company that sells retail products, chemicals, and fertilizers. Wesfarmers is well-known for having made a big splash in the Australian and New Zealand markets. Nutrien is a Canadian company headquartered in Saskatoon, formed in 2018 when Calgary-based Agrium Inc. and PotashCorp (aka Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan) of Saskatoon merged. The company is one of the largest potash producers globally, with over 20 million metric tonnes of potassium chloride plant capacity at six Saskatchewan mines. Nutrien also has two large phosphate mines situated in the US. Statista said that in 2022, Nutrien had revenues of approximately US$37.9 billion, noting that the company had been showing a growing trend over the past few years. It is also the third-largest manufacturer of nitrogen fertilizer, following the American company CF Industries and the Norwegian chemical company Yara. Of course, Yara and CF Industries have entities of their own in Canada, too. Canada’s fertilizer industry will continue to grow domestically and internationally, especially in the US, as COVID-19 fears ebb away. Recently, we saw many farmers panic-buying any type of fertilizer they could get their hands on. It’s why there was a run on animal waste, causing a shortage there. It’s also why every retailer warned its customers to order early to ensure they were first in line to receive fertilizer, rather than putting in a request as needed. Although companies such as Nutrien could and has, in fact, picked up the slack and offer fertilizer as required, it also caused others to formulate their concepts of alternative fertilizer. It is not just done in case there’s a shortage, but rather as a green alternative to aid in the reduction of GHG emissions. Jiminy! That’s Cricket! We saw industry-wide complaints from farmers when the April 2022 peak fertilizer pricing for anhydrous ammonia was over US$1,600 (CDN $2,171) a ton before falling to $1,152 (CDN $1,563) a ton on August 25, 2022. As of February 2024, prices were even lower. MAP (monoammonium phosphate consists of phosphorus and nitrogen) had an average price of $809 (CDN $1,097) per ton, potash $509 (CDN $690)/ton, urea $527 (CDN $715)/ton, anhydrous $770 (CDN $1,044)/ton, UAN28 $334 (CDN $453)/ton, and UAN32 $390 (CDN $529)/ton. Sure Source Commodities LLC (aka SureSource Agronomy) of Petrolia, Ontario, has developed a new fertilizer source that will make your conscience feel good—unless you love or hate insects. Featuring pelleted frass—that’s what the company calls the excrement, exoskeletons, and discarded feed materials of crickets—the Kickin’ Frass product re-
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