Fertilizer prices continue to fall

Fertilizer prices have dipped further after the Christmas season, with retail sales of these commonly used inorganic inputs now as much as 53 percent lower than their September 2008 levels as an offshoot of the continued decline in the cost of crude oil in the world market, the Department of Agriculture (DA) has reported.

Agriculture Undersecretary Jesus Emmanuel Paras said low crude oil prices abroad have led to the steady drop in the market rates of popular farm inputs like Triple 14, 21-0-0, 46-0-0 and 16-20-0.

Paras said that as of the second week of January, the price of Triple 14 have fallen 44.8 percent from P1,940 in September to P1,070 per bag, while that of 21-0-0 dropped 53 percent from P1,065 in the same month to only P499 per bag. The cost of 16-20-0 declined 31.2 percent from P1,410 to P970 per bag and that of 46-0-0 from P999 to P850 per bag.

Earlier, Dennis Mate, executive vice president of the Philippine Phosphate Fertilizer Corp. (Philphos) had said urea, which will be available in Philphos warehouses this month, will cost only P999 per bag, down from 47.4 percent P1,900 per bag last October.

The DA had called on local suppliers to make the cost of these farm inputs reflective of the drop in crude oil prices in the world market.

The Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) last November also kept a tight watch on the prices of these farm inputs to prevent “price gouging” by certain dealers and retailers who refuse to slash their retail prices. FPA data also show that the import price of urea plunged to $330 per metric ton in the last week of October from $702 per MT in September, while the cost of 18-46-0 fell from $1,270 to $970 and 21-0-0 from $390 to $366.