US Federal Trade Commission probes rising fertilizer prices

By Tom Polansek

CHICAGO, May 28 (Reuters) - The ‌U.S. Federal Trade ​Commission said ​on Thursday it has been investigating fertilizer prices, which spiked after the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

Soaring prices for fertilizer and fuel due to the ‌conflict have pinched farmers as they have planted corn and other crops, and ⁠grappled with a resurgent drought in the U.S. Plains. Some growers are facing a fourth straight year of shrinking margins.

"The ‌commission some time ago commenced a ‌major industry-wide investigation into the precipitous rise of fertilizer prices in this country, which has affected so many of our nation's farmers," FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said in a recording of ​an event with farmers in Texas. The agency confirmed his remarks.

The FTC said the investigation included the use of a type of administrative order called civil investigative demand, which can be ⁠used to obtain documents or testimony.

Fertilizer companies CF Industries, Mosaic and Nutrien had no immediate comment.

PRICES SOAR

The Middle East is a leading ​hub for fertilizer production, and much of the global fertilizer trade typically passes through the Strait of Hormuz, where shipping has been blocked during the ​war.

Since closure of the strait in late February, prices ‌for urea, one of the major fertilizers produced in the Gulf region, were up 55%, the Kentucky Farm Bureau wrote in prepared testimony to a U.S. ⁠Senate agriculture committee hearing this month. Prices for another nitrogen-based fertilizer rose 33%, the farmers' group said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has said the entire administration of President Donald Trump was focused on ensuring greater domestic ⁠production of affordable fertilizer.

"USDA data has shown the single largest increase in input costs of farmers across the United ​States since 2020 has come from fertilizer," Ferguson said. "These continued price increases are not something our nation, much less our farmers, can continue to ignore."

A survey last month by the American Farm Bureau Federation, the leading U.S. ‌farm lobby, found that most farmers could not afford all the fertilizer they need for this growing season.

Aaron Martinka, chairman of industry group Texas Corn ‌Producers, said in a statement that the FTC's investigation was a step toward making the marketplace fair.

"A fertilizer ⁠cartel has squeezed American agriculture to the ‌breaking point, while driving up ​grocery costs for every family in this country," Martinka said. "Farmers are fed up, and we are not going away."

(Reporting by Tom Polansek; Editing by Paul Simao and ‌David Gregorio)

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