Tensions in the Middle East disrupting global energy markets are driving up fertilizer prices, creating new pressures for Louisiana farmers while boosting export demand through the state's ports.
As farmers in Louisiana and around the country enter the heart of the spring planting season, fertilizer arriving on barges at the Port of New Orleans is being purchased and reloaded for export to markets paying more than U.S. buyers.
More than 30% of global fertilizer exports have been stranded in the Persian Gulf since Iran's near closure of the Strait of Hormuz in early March, causing nitrogen fertilizer prices to soar. The price for New Orleans barges reached $690.50 per short ton on Monday versus $871 for nitrogen fertilizer in international markets. A year ago, nitrogen fertilizer changed hands at approximately $382 – $388 per short ton at the Port of New Orleans.