Global fertilizer prices soared to multi-year highs in the past few months following surge in prices of key feedstocks natural gas and coal, and certain export restrictions put in place by supplying countries. Around the globe, natural gas is used as a raw material as well as fuel for nitrogen fertilizer production. In some countries such as China, coal is gasified into ammonia and used for manufacturing fertilizers. Nitrogen fertilizers are the most used fertilizers in the world. Ammonia, phosphorous and potash are the other important fertilizer components. According to the European crop nutrient company Yara Fertilizers, in several of their transformation steps, natural gas, essentially methane, is upgraded by combination with nitrogen from the air to form nitrogen fertilizer. “While 80% of the gas is used as feedstock for fertilizer, 20% is used for heating the process and producing electricity,” according to Yara. Unsurprisingly, when natural gas prices […]