Prices of commonly used fertilizers continue to rise

By: Karl R. Ocampo, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 25 Nov 2019

MANILA, Philippines–Prices of widely used fertilizers continued to go up in October amid record-low prices for crops especially palay.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that this is the 20th consecutive month that urea, complete, ammosul and ammophos registered higher prices from year-ago levels.

The last time that fertilizers recorded decline on an annual basis was in March 2018.

On average, urea posted the highest increase at P1,129 a sack, up 5 percent from last year. PSA said prices of urea in all regions went up except in Ilocos and Soccskargen.

Meanwhile, a sack of complete fertilizer – a mix of three plant nutrients (nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash – was sold at an average of P1,146, up 2.3 percent from year-ago level. Except in Zamboanga, all regions recorded higher quotations from last year.

Prices of ammosul (ammonium sulfate fertilizer) and ammophos (a highly concentrated fertilizer composed of nitrogen and phosphor), rose by 2.1 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively, to P628.32 and P1,000 a sack.

Relative to the same month in the previous year, all regions exhibited price increases for ammosul except Calabarzon and BARMM. Prices of ammophos also rose in all regions except Soccskargen.

Notable increases in fertilizer prices were recorded in the regions of Cordillera, Bicol, Eastern Visayas and Northern Mindanao, with rates going up by as much as 10.7 percent.

Some provinces registered slight decreases in fertilizer prices which ranged between 0.1 percent and 2.8 percent.

The consistent increase in production costs have been bleeding farmers dry with prices of palay dipping to record-low rates.

As such, farmers are often forced to use less implements on their crops which results in lower yields.

Federation of Free Farmers Raul Montemayor earlier said in an interview with Inquirer that if this trend continues, local planters may finally decide to sell their lands for quick profit.