Deputy Agriculture Secretary Stephen Vaden says Mosaic and Nutrien have a “duopoly” in U.S. fertilizer markets and suggests the administration could take steps to address such concentration. But analysts say market concentration is by no means the main driver of high fertilzer prices.
“Potash is the best-priced fertilizer out there,” Josh Linville, vice president for fertilizer at StoneX, said in an email. “I like the attention to phosphate, but I have two issues with their approach,” he added.
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Linville says U.S. phosphate prices are high because of countervailing duties on Moroccan and Russian phosphate have in place since 2021. World prices are also high because of reduced Chinese exports.
Researchers at Texas A&M University reached a similar conclusion earlier this month.
Texas GOP Rep. Pat Fallon asked them to analyze the impacts of the duties on Morocco, and the analysts concluded the countervailing duties increased costs to U.S. producers by $6.9 billion from the 2021 to 2025 growing seasons.
