DTN Retail Fertilizer Trends

OMAHA (DTN) -- For the second week in a row, average retail fertilizer prices tracked by DTN slid lower, though the declines were slight.

For the fourth week of July 2014, all eight of the major fertilizers were lower compared to last month, though none were down by any consequence once again.

DAP had an average price of $585 per ton, MAP $617/ton, potash $483/ton, urea $527/ton, 10-34-0 $562/ton, anhydrous $683/ton, UAN28 $345/ton and UAN32 $394/ton.

On a price per pound of nitrogen basis, the average urea price was at $0.57/lb.N, anhydrous $0.42/lb.N, UAN28 $0.62/lb.N and UAN32 $0.62/lb.N.

While the fertilizer application season is a couple months away, midsummer is a time when some farmers begin to pre-purchase fertilizer to lock in the price, especially for fall application. With commodity prices trending lower and retail fertilizer predicted to do the same, this midsummer time may be a slow time for fertilizer retailers booking their customers' fertilizer needs.

Levi Taylor farms near Ypsilanti, N.D., in the southeastern area of the state with his family. He has pre-purchased fertilizer in past years, both for fall application as well as spring application.

Taylor believes very few farmers will be locking in fertilizer prices with the current market conditions.

"With low corn prices, I think paying on the go will be the best option," Taylor told DTN in an email. "Producers don't want to be locked in to so many acres of fertilizer this early."

The one input Taylor said he will consider locking in the price of before harvest is propane. Looking at propane recently, it is at levels right now that could be the beginning of an upward price movement, he said.

Scott Wallis is another Midwest farmer who has not locked in any of his fertilizer needs yet. Wallis farms near Princeton, Ind., in the southwest part of the Hoosier State.

"I haven't locked any fertilizer in yet, but I did receive a price that was higher than last year's which surprised me," Wallis said in an email.

With fertilizers moving higher earlier in the year, just one of the eight major fertilizers is now double-digits lower in price compared to July of 2013.

DAP, MAP and urea are all now nearly unchanged from last year. 10-34-0 is down 6% while anhydrous, UAN28 and UAN32 are all now 7% less expensive. Potash is 14% lower compared to a year earlier.

DTN collects roughly 1,700 retail fertilizer bids from 310 retailer locations weekly. Not all fertilizer prices change each week. Prices are subject to change at any time.

DTN Pro Grains subscribers can find current retail fertilizer price in the DTN Fertilizer Index on the Fertilizer page under Farm Business.

Retail fertilizer charts dating back to November 2008 are available in the DTN fertilizer segment. The charts included cost of N/lb., DAP, MAP, potash, urea, 10-34-0, anhydrous, UAN28 and UAN32.

DTN's average of retail fertilizer prices from a month earlier ($ per ton):

DRY
Date Range	DAP	MAP	POTASH	UREA
Aug 19-23 2013	569.81	598.99	545.90	489.00
Sept 16-20 2013	540.76	579.26	505.67	452.06
Oct 14-18, 2013	524.33	566.31	493.04	441.57
Nov 11-15 2013	515.93	564.43	489.75	441.10
Dec 9-13 2013	505.69	546.69	483.20	441.68
Jan 6-10 2014	492.78	513.09	474.08	458.30
Feb 3-7 2014	521.24	550.48	470.01	502.95
Mar 3-7 2014	553.29	569.88	473.86	531.25
Mar 31-Apr 4 2014	578.78	599.25	474.61	546.33
Apr 28-May 2 2014	597.13	624.99	476.43	559.75
May 26-30 2014	595.94	630.78	480.02	551.35
June 23-27 2014	594.83	629.02	483.44	535.42
July 21-25 2014	585.40	617.46	482.98	527.46
LIQUID
Date Range	10-34-0	ANHYD	UAN28	UAN32
Aug 19-23 2013	566.85	696.66	347.99	392.06
Sept 16-20 2013	532.52	661.79	329.67	372.34
Oct 14-18, 2013	521.65	654.02	323.39	368.93
Nov 11-15 2013	518.83	644.82	320.70	367.75
Dec 9-13 2013	514.50	634.59	318.17	360.82
Jan 6-10 2014	504.68	619.42	318.90	364.24
Feb 3-7 2014	498.31	617.23	334.24	381.71
Mar 3-7 2014	510.67	622.25	343.38	388.53
Mar 31-Apr 4 2014	514.88	659.53	351.01	395.53
Apr 28-May 2 2014	535.72	695.14	355.65	403.11
May 26-30 2014	558.90	702.05	355.65	406.38
June 23-27 2014	562.15	700.44	354.58	402.79
July 21-25 2014	561.56	683.14	345.14	393.96

Russ Quinn can be reached at russ.quinn@dtn.com

(AG/CZ)

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