Phoenix-Items reported in the Green Markets Nov. 1 issue regarding Harry Vroomen’s comments at the North American Fertilizer Transportation Conference (NAFTC) were incorrect. Vroomen, vice president of economic services for The Fertilizer Institute (TFI), offered a comparison between the 2008 spike in fertilizer prices and current market conditions, and documented the dramatic growth in global nutrient demand through FY2007/08. Vroomen reported that ammonium phosphate inventories dropped to record levels in August 2010, not potash inventories as reported by Green Markets. He noted, however, that potash inventories have tightened dramatically as shipments have increased, and that nitrogen demand could rebound to FY2006/07 levels in FY2010/11. Vroomen said the period up through 2008 saw huge spikes in shipping costs, high natural gas and petroleum prices, stronger crop prices, and a falling U.S. dollar. He also noted the dramatic increase in the price of raw materials ?Çô the market costs of phosphate rock, sulfur, and ammonia alone required to product a ton of DAP rose from $144 in 2005 to $1,077 by mid-2008. Those factors combined to drive a 356 percent increase in fertilizer prices paid by U.S. farmers from January 2000 to September/October 2008.
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