Japanese fertilizer prices settled mostly higher by Zen-Noh and makers

Fertilizer price negotiations between the National Federation of Agricultural Co-operative Associations, or Zen-Noh, and fertilizer manufacturers were concluded with the prices of most items settled higher for the spring fertilizing period of November this year to May 2011 than for the June-October fall fertilizer period, but most items marked price declines compared with a year ago. A half-year system was newly introduced this year.

For compound fertilizer, prices were up 1.3% from the fall period for low-analysis fertilizers; up 1.7% for commodity high-analysis fertilizers; down 0.2% for functional high-analysis fertilizers; and up 1.3% for PK-saved 488 high-analysis fertilizers, with reduced phosphorus and potassium contents.

For single-component fertilizers, prices were up 2.5% for single superphosphate and up 2.3% for fused phosphate, reflecting higher costs for phosphate minerals, the raw materials for the production of phosphatic fertilizers, and up 2.5% for potassium chloride, to take into account higher international prices. With supply and demand not much changed for nitrogen-based fertilizers since the fall-period price settlement, the prices of powdered ammonium sulfate and domestically produced urea remained the same. Fertilizer manufacturers made a strong request for a price markup for domestically produced urea on the grounds of higher naphtha and liquefied-natural-gas prices, but Zen-Noh asked them to use corporate efforts to absorb their increased costs instead, citing the lower prices of imported urea, and the price was unchanged in the end.