Germany’s Chancellor plans lithium deal with Serbia after Rio ruling
Olaf Scholz plans to visit Serbia this week to secure supplies of lithium that are critical for the nation’s energy transition and auto industry.
Bloomberg reports prices in the $150 billion fertilizer market are lagging behind gains in food costs, providing farmers another incentive to boost production and leaving a gap for potash producers to further increase prices which have already surged 29% this year.
Potash is 36% cheaper than in June 2008 when corn rose to a record, according to data from ICIS, a commodity-pricing company. In contrast food prices gained 4.3% over the same period, an index of the United Nations shows.
Jason Miner, a chemicals analyst at Bloomberg Industries said: “Slower price increase does mean less potential demand destruction for all fertilizers.” Demand for potash plunged 40% in 2009 after producers raised prices almost threefold the year before.
ETF Daily News reports corn prices keep edging upward as stockpiles shrink and that corn could bring $7.75 a bushel by early 2012 — versus $7.28 today — as more of the grain is used for ethanol or shipped overseas. In Asia a bowl of rice is already 22% more expensive than it was last year.
Comments
a081003
Soft commodity prices are on the verge of increasing because of the demand after this lack of confidence and uncertainty in the world. There are more and more people on earth and they all want to consume. Very soon farmers will have to buy fertilizers and as they have earned more money and are trying to increase productivity and production, they will easely pay more for the fertilizer which the will need very soon.
The reason of this slow down in mondial production is due to socialist and syndicalist govern with unproductive expenses, no savings, big government and administration, giving money away to their lazy voters and so raise all costs. Look only at Greece: in some cities about 80% are paid by the community. No surprise of their huge deficit. Socialisme and syndicalisme are the evil all over, but no one dare to talk about, because all politiciens try to get a piece.