800 326 9054Soaring prices of sulfur, a main component of phosphate fertilizer, are adding to brutal farm inflation and putting U.S. food security at risk, Rep. Scott Franklin and other Florida Republicans tell President Donald Trump.
Global shipping disruptions have tightened supplies and pushed prices to historic levels, causing some U.S. phosphate producers to idle operations, according to a Sept. 9 letter to Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
“American workers will soon face layoffs because of sulfur availability and affordability,” the lawmakers say. “Once production capacity is lost, it cannot be quickly restored, nor can manufacturers easily make up lost fertilizer volumes before future planting seasons. The effects directly impact American agriculture.”
All available lawful measures should be considered to increase availability of sulfur for domestic fertilizer production, the lawmakers say. Potential options include authority under the Defense Production Act; voluntary coordination with U.S. refiners and sulfur marketers; trade tools; and reaching out to suppliers.
The House members also suggest the appointment of a senior administration official to serve as a liaison with Congress on the issue.
Florida is a major hub for phosphate, one of the world’s three main crop nutrients. It takes 4 tons of sulfur to produce 10 tons of finished MAP or DAP phosphate fertilizer, meaning that swings in sulfur pricing have a big impact on manufacturing costs, according to The Fertilizer Institute. Over the past year, almost every significant global source of sulfur has been upended, including out of the Middle East, Russia and China, amid robust demand, the trade group said last month.
“Diminished domestic phosphate production tightens fertilizer supplies and raises costs at a time when farmers are already confronting high input costs and difficult commodity markets. Further increases could force producers to absorb additional costs, reduce nutrient applications or reconsider how many acres they can economically plant,” according to the letter. “Ultimately, those pressures will lower domestic food production and increase costs for American consumers.”
The threat to phosphate supplies comes as the administration and Congress try to boost domestic fertilizer production and establish more resilient domestic supply chains.
*Sourced from Agri-Pulse.