Tag: IFA

Late February saw the diplomatic crisis between Russia and Ukraine abruptly devolve into all-out war, on a scale not seen in Europe since the collapse of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s – some would argue not since the end of the Second World War. At time of writing, the conflict is still barely two weeks old, but has already produced an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe, and a refugee crisis of massive proportions. But over the medium and longer term, together with the international sanctions that have swiftly followed, it also has the power to deliver an economic shock to commodities markets in particular and the world economy in general that may be as bad if not worse than the crash of 2008-9.

Argus in collaboration with CRU will convene the 2022 Fertilizer Latino Americano conference in Miami, Florida, 21-23 March.

Sulphur is becoming an increasingly vital crop nutrient – due to a combination of lower sulphur deposition from the atmosphere, the increasing prevalence of high-analysis fertilizers and higher cropping intensity.

We look ahead at fertilizer industry prospects for the next 12 months, including the key economic and agricultural drivers likely to shape the market during 2022.

Fertilizer International presents a global round-up of phosphate rock, phosphoric acid and finished phosphates projects.

As a quick glance through the Index of last year’s articles and news items in this issue of the magazine will amply demonstrate, 2021 was a year full of project announcements for low carbon ammonia and methanol projects of all hues; blue, green, turquoise and many other shades besides. Market analysts CRU said in December that they calculated that there have been a total of 124 million t/a of low carbon ammonia projects announced, 80 million t/a of which came in 2021 alone, equivalent to 55% of current ammonia capacity. These range from tentative pilot plants that are fully costed and often with government grants already secured to blue sky visions of vast electrolysis hubs in the deserts of Arabia with timescales towards the end of the decade – it’s often the case that the longer the proposed timescale, the less likely a project is to happen.

The International Fertilizer Association (IFA) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) over collaboration to support the FAO’s vision of transformative change and innovation in agriculture. Svein Tore Holsether, IFA Chair, signed the agreement at a live virtual signing in December together with FAO deputy director general Beth Bechdol. The agreement outlines collaboration to further shared goals and objectives with regard to the promotion of sustainable food and agriculture. Both parties will work together to raise awareness about the International Code of Conduct for the Sustainable Use and Management of Fertilizers (Fertilizer Code), promote education and knowledge transfer and continue their successful collaboration on fertilizer statistics.

Last year the International Energy Agency (IEA), in conjunction with IFA, published the Ammonia Technology Roadmap, which looks at ways of achieving decarbonisation of the nitrogen fertilizer industry by 2050. In this article we look at the scenarios and technology options that will define the industry over the next three decades.

Import duties on phosphates from Morocco and Russia imposed by the US government in 2021 have compounded a lack of availability of phosphate fertilizer caused by Chinese export restrictions and led to higher prices for US farmers. Are there knock-on effects possible for sulphuric acid demand?

Improvements to nutrient use efficiency (NUE), particularly for nitrogen, can deliver dual environmental and economic benefits. We report on recent developments in nitrogen management and global progress on NUE.