Rabobank Australia & New Zealand, Media Release, 4 January 2021

Affordable fertiliser prices helped support Australian agricultural producers’ profits through the 2020/21 winter cropping season.  And a plentiful global fertiliser supply – along with stable currency outlook – spells further good news for growers in the year ahead, according to agribusiness specialist Rabobank. 

In its latest Semi-Annual Global Fertiliser Outlook: Demand Revival, the bank says while global fertiliser prices had climbed off their 10-year lows during the second half of 2020 – primarily due to improved world-wide demand – this newly-found price strength was expected to tail off during quarter two this year. 

“Heavy supplies and growing production capacity will continue to weigh on prices across the nutrient complex,” the report says. 

The bank expects global urea and phosphate prices to remain stable until the start of quarter two, supported by northern hemisphere demand. 

However, once that seasonal demand had subsided, global markets would again be exposed to heavy supplies, the report says. 

And for Australia – where 70 per cent of fertilisers overall are imported – that means favourable farmgate prices for fertiliser should be “here to stay for 2021”, says Rabobank agricultural analyst Wes Lefroy. 

Georgina Poole
Media Relations Manager
Rabobank Australia & New Zealand
Mobile:   +61 418 216 103
Email:    georgina.poole@rabobank.com