China fertilizer group calls for export cuts to stabilize prices

A Chinese fertilizer group asked members to curb exports and recall shipped cargoes to secure domestic supplies and stabilize prices, the latest measures by the nation to restrict crop nutrient shipments.

Producers should also keep factory prices of products below levels recorded on Nov. 16, and lower sale prices if profit margins are high, according to a notice on the website of the China Nitrogen Fertilizer Industry Association, a group under the management of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Beijing in September asked some exporters to suspend the export of urea after domestic prices jumped, which led to some initially cooling in the cost of local supplies before they trended higher again last month.

Fertilizer is a key input in food production, especially for staple grains, and the biggest producers of the crop nutrient include Russia and Belarus. The war in Ukraine has led to sanctions on those nations, upending the trade, with additional restrictions from China poised to tighten the market further.

In 2020, Russia and Belarus accounted for nearly 20% of the three major types of fertilizer traded globally — nitrogen, phosphate, and potash, according to the US Department of Agriculture. China’s export share was about 12%.