Expensive fertiliser will add on to global food inflation

Worrying times: A worker transports fertilisers for export at a port in Nantong in the Jiangsu province. Farmers worldwide from Brazil to India are feeling the supply pinch due to rising cost of fertilisers. — Reuters

BEIJING: 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 prices have nearly doubled.