Farmers in the US and Canada, already worried about another year of low profits or losses, now could have spring planting disrupted as they struggle to find fertilizer, reported Reuters.
Prices for any available supplies have spiked more than a third since the war in Iran paralyzed global trade.
The US, which in some years imports half of its urea fertilizer, is about 25% short of the usual supplies that farmers buy for spring planting, according to The Fertilizer Institute, which represents the US fertilizer supply chain.
Supplies could grow still scarcer if fertilizer destined for the US gets rerouted to other places willing to pay more for it, an analyst said.
Josh Linville, a fertilizer market analyst at StoneX, said the price offered in New Orleans, the port area where most offshore US imports enter and prices are set, is as much as $119 less per metric ton than global prices.
"Not only am I worried about incoming vessels being turned around to other, better-paying destinations, there's an argument to be made, if somebody was willing to go and buy up (supply on) barges, to load them onto a vessel and export it," Linville said.
Late Friday, the US Treasury Department said it was taking immediate steps to allow for more imports of Venezuelan fertilizer "to support our great American farmers."
Since removing Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in a military raid in January, the Trump administration has been supporting US-focused Venezuelan oil exports. Friday's announcement also includes further measures that Treasury says will allow Venezuela's energy sector to recover from years of decline.
Venezuela has been a significant but not dominant producer of nitrogen fertilizers like urea. However, recent years have seen a massive decline in production, similar to its stumbling crude oil industry. Increasing fertilizer production in Venezuela's stressed economy and political situation will be a challenge requiring billions of dollars, analysts told Reuters. It will not be a quick fix.
Farmers who do significant springtime fertilizer application and have not already purchased their supplies are finding retail centers empty, or stocked with supplies sold at such a premium that it's unaffordable.
"It sends shivers down your spine," said Saskatchewan, Canada farmer David Altrogge, whose broker told him that a local fertilizer dealer had stopped offering prices for fertilizer due to the shortage.
He bought his urea in December, but if he bought it today it would cost C$44,000 ($32,070) more. Some farmers in his area now face that price hike or may not even be able to buy any, he said.
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