It is the 6-week anniversary of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Fert price comparisons:
NOLA urea - +$230 or 49%
NOLA UAN - +$145 or 38%
Midwest NH3 - +$245 or 32%
NOLA DAP - +$130 or 21%
NOLA potash - +$10 or 3%
...corn - 2-cents or 0.5% higher
#sickeningforfarmers
Export restrictions by key producers except US are distorting trade:
- China: Has imposed or extended restrictions on urea, certain NPK blends, phosphates (DAP/MAP), and other products, with many curbs in place through at least August 2026. The goal is explicitly to keep supplies at home for Chinese farmers and stabilize domestic prices, removing millions of tons from export availability.
- Russia: Temporary controls or suspensions on ammonium nitrate and other nitrogen products (some through April 2026 or longer), prioritizing domestic needs. Russia remains a significant urea/ammonia exporter overall but with quotas or pauses.
- Persian Gulf producers (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran, UAE-linked): Not formal "bans" in the policy sense, but effective shutdown due to shipping paralysis in the Strait of Hormuz. This region accounts for ~30–46% of global seaborne urea/ammonia trade; many plants (e.g., Qatar's massive QAFCO) have gone offline or seen exports trickle to near-zero.
- Other notes: Egypt and some others have faced secondary pressures, while India (a huge importer) is also dealing with domestic production cuts from gas shortages.
These moves have removed a substantial chunk of "exportable" supply — estimates suggest 30% or more of normally traded urea/ammonia is constrained right now.
ACCORDING TO KPLER ’S OPEC+ SECONDARY SOURCE OIL PRODUCTION ASSESSMENT, PRODUCTION FROM THE GROUP FELL BY A RECORD 20.5% IN MARCH COMPARED TO FEBRUARY. THAT’S A LOSS AROUND 9 MILLION BPD MONTH ON MONTH - SOURCES
Are phosphates about to rally?
The #Mosaic Company, the world’s biggest phosphate producer, has halted production in Brazil due to a shortage of sulphur - a key input. The company says it will cut annual phosphate output by ~1 MMT.
The Gulf countries typically supply around 40% of global sulphur exports.
Are you bullish enough on #grains?
#oatt#sizovreport#IranWar $mos
More in our report: sizov.report/?utm_source=tw…
Chinese processors crushed 1.62 million tonnes of #soybeans in the latest week, down 210 K from a week earlier. Crush was 570K above a year earlier. Crush since the 1st of the year is up 11% / 2.3 MMT at just under 24 million tonnes.
For the 25-26 year, the USDA is forecasting a 4+% increase of 4½ million. April crush is expected to total around 7 million according to #China's the National Food and Strategic Reserves Data Centre, a significant increase from the April 2025 figure of 6.2 million.
Took a little extra digging to find where #USDA's 3.63 MMT month-on-month jump in world #corn production came from with only 1.03 MMT of this being origins shown on the main report.
Biggest bearish standout was again #India, as with the #wheat side; biggest drop was Uruguay.
#oatt#oott
This is insane: 1.2 MMT of #corn registered to export today! 4 MMT to be shipped during April! and there are 21 days left to end the month. I don't know if the corn output reaches 67MMT as BCR estimates, but I can confirm that export surplus is comfortably above 40 MMT
All trade estimates for USDA's supply & demand report due Thursday at noon EDT. Not many changes expected to headline numbers on average, though the ranges of ideas are healthy. Top items to watch are South American corn/soy crops and U.S. corn/soy demand.
Everyone says the family farm is dying.
But nobody talks about the guys who figured out a second revenue stream, built a direct-to-consumer brand, or just picked up a camera and started telling people what they actually do.
The farm didn't survive because conditions got easier. It survived because somebody got creative when conditions got hard.
That's the story that doesn't get told enough.
One of my worst case urea scenarios just happened.
India has announced a 2.5m ton urea purchase tender. Long shipment period (thru June) will help, but this is bad.
Global values had been holding back on market fundamentals. Government money just entered the chat.
...crap...
@BantrySeedFarms How many bushels a hr can your combine process and your happy with losses every machine I’ve been around has a number then they chuck some times there’s other limits then acres a machine
Ok. Honestly. How many acres do you run your combine on ? This is a serious question. No need of color bashing or anything like that. I’d like honest acres for one combine #Agtwitter
@AGRPurdue1899@DDFalpha I agree! Soil temp is highly affected by water content. You needn't experience many cool Spring lake effect rains to realize that soil temp can drop quickly based on rain water temp.
@sanegrain For me, it is hardest when my closest loved ones are grieving. It is challenging to know how to best support them--do I hug them, give them space, encourage them, help them see what they are missing, or just sit and cry with them?
Holy Spirit, Your way & help me to follow You!