Analysis: Global farmers facing fertiliser sticker shock may cut use, raising food security risks – Reuters

Analysis: Global farmers facing fertiliser sticker shock may cut use, raising food security risks – Reuters

BEIJING/SAO PAULO/JAKARTA, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Key crops, from Brazilian corn to Malaysian durians, are at risk after tight supplies and blistering prices of fertiliser have caused farmers to scrimp on vital crop nutrients, adding to global food security and inflation fears.

Fertiliser costs soared this year amid rising demand and lower supply as record natural gas and coal prices triggered output cuts in the energy-intensive fertiliser sector. Urea surged more than 200% this year while diammonium phosphate (DAP) prices have nearly doubled.

With global food prices at their highest in more than a decade, rising fertiliser costs will only add to pressures on food affordability, especially in import-reliant economies, while stretched budgets leave little room for government subsidies, said Frederic Neumann, HSBC's co-head of Asian economics research.