Fertilizer Prices Rise in February in Brazil
Brazil
Ministry of Agriculture published the approval of 74 formulated pesticides. (MAPA)
According to Eduardo Monteiro, country manager at The Mosaic Company in Brazil, the market outlook for 2025 is very good. “This is because we are entering a period of record harvest, estimated at around 170 million tonnes of grains. It’s a mathematical equation: when you remove the grain, which contains nutrients, you need to replace these nutrients in the soil. The expectation, in terms of volume, is that the numbers for 2025 will exceed those of 2024, with a surplus of 48 to 49 million tonnes. It will be a sensational year in regard to demand”, says Monteiro. (The Mosaic Company)
City of Sorriso, State of Mato Grosso, will host the fifth edition of the “School of Herbicides”, a training program promoted by Fundação MT research foundation. The event will take place from March 17-19th and seeks to deepen the knowledge about herbicide management and weed control. The training will be held at the Nossa Senhora do Carmo Farm, owned by Bavaresco Group. The activity will have a practical focus on cotton, corn and cover crops. According to researcher Lucas Barcellos, approximately 100 herbicide treatment options will be presented. (Fundação MT)
Brazil’s fertilizer market remains stable, although potential supply disruptions could occur, according to a report by Citi Bank analysts Gabriel Barra and Pedro Gama. (Citi)
Sipcam Nichino will enter the seed treatment market in May, when it is expected to launch a specialized digital platform, called Seed Pro. (Sipcam Nichino)
According to Izabel Vianna Villela, from InnVitro Toxicology Consulting, two changes draw attention in the case of Law No. 14785/2023, known as the New Pesticides Law: “1) the toxicological evaluation must be carried out based on the GHS. ANVISA’s RDC 294/19 was already based on the GHS, but now it must follow 100% of the GHS; 2) The prohibitive toxicological outcomes previously defined in Decree No. 4074 of 2002 no longer exist. Now, prohibitive risk is in force. In other words, dietary, occupational and environmental risk evaluations gain great importance in product registration”. (InnVitro)
Bayer announced the launch of a new GMO soybean. According to the company, the variety will be the first to offer tolerance to five herbicides at the same time. The technology is expected to be available to farmers in the US and Canada starting in the 2027 season. In Brazil, the company submitted registration request of the Vyconic brand on February 27th, 2024. (Bayer CropScience)
The National Association for Fertilizer Distribution declared fertilizer deliveries fell 0.5% from January to December of 2024, to 45.61 million tonnes. Although the drop is slight, analysts indicate concern about imports of raw materials and distribution throughout Brazil, due to logistical problems at ports. (ANDA)
Researcher Mariangela Hungria, from Embrapa Soja, is among the six scientists honored with the Women and Science Award, promoted by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development. “It was a career that began when recognition for the use of bioinputs was minimal, but I always persisted in the same line of research and today we are reaping the results”, said Hungria. (CNPq)
Fertilizer Purchasing Power Index for February of 2025 closed at 1.1, up 0.6% (the higher the index, the worse the farmer’s purchasing power for fertilizers). Despite a recovery in the price of some commodities, there was also an increase in the price of fertilizers. In February, fertilizers showed an average increase of about 3%, driven by the rise in urea and potassium chloride prices. (The Mosaic Company)
The Brazilian Association of Plant Nutrition Technology Industries announced the opening of subscriptions for Conexão Abisolo 2025, an event that unifies the II Organic Matrix Fertilizer Forum and the III Biofertilizer Symposium. (Abisolo)
Local production of intermediate fertilizers ended December of 2024 with 605 thousand tonnes, an increase of 7.5%. From January to December of 2024, production reached 7.21 million tonnes, compared to 6.95 million tonnes in the same period of 2023, an increase of 3.8%. (ANDA)
Coruripe Sugar and Ethanol Plant, controlled by the Tércio Wanderley group, is investing in organic fertilization and estimates a 39% reduction in the consumption of chemical fertilizers by 2030, according to Mario Lorencatto, president of the company. (Coruripe Plant)
Pesticide drift damages agroecological farms in Torres, State of Rio Grande do Sul. Inadequate application of herbicides in rice farms has damaged the production of vegetables in the municipality. (Seapi)
The Agricultural Defense Agency of the State of Goiás has intensified its work on sanitary education and agricultural inspection to prevent the entry of Amaranthus palmeri, known as carelessweed. To date, there have been no records of this weed in Goiás, despite detection in the neighboring States of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul. (Agrodefesa)
Developed by Embrapa’s Western Amazon Unit, an accessible fungicide application technique has enabled efficient control of the fungus Mycosphaerella fijiensis, which causes the main disease in bananas in the Amazon, according to the Impact Assessment Report of Technologies generated by Embrapa over the last 15 years. The technique prevents fungicides from dispersing in the environment and makes it possible to control the disease with just three applications per production cycle. (Embrapa)
Judge Alessandra Gontijo do Amaral, of the 19th Civil and Environmental Court of the District of Goiânia, called for two general meetings of creditors of AgroGalaxy, which has accumulated debts of US$ 810 million since September of 2024. The meetings will happen on March 31st and April 9th. (TJGO)
Latin America
In Latin America, the reduction in corn planted area and falling prices have harmed Bayer Crop Science’s results in 2024. Crop division sales fell 4.3% in the year to € 22.3 billion (US$ 24.18 billion). Even so, the company said it believes it is “well positioned to grow above the market in the coming years”. (Bayer Crop Science)
According to Martín Torres Duggan, coordinator of the Organic Products Network of the Association of No-Till Farmers of Argentina, it is important to complement fertilizers with biostimulants, especially in conditions of nutritional deficiency. “Soil fertility in the Pampas region was declining… In this case, biostimulants have an interesting use, complementing nutritional management, but not replacing the use of fertilizers”, he said. “Most of the biostimulants increase biomass and root depth of plants, and this leads to access to a greater quantity of soil resources, that is, nutrients and water”. (Aapresid)
Construction of the Bioinputs Plant in the municipality of Pampa Grande, in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, has reached 87.5% progress and, when it becomes operational, it should reduce imports of fertilizers and other inputs by more than US$ 2 billion, said the Minister of Economy, Marcelo Montenegro. (Government of Bolivia)
BASF has announced Daniel Neptune Marcon as the new VP of Operations for South America and responsible for the chemical unit in the city of Guaratinguetá, State of São Paulo, Brazil. (BASF)
Chile’s Agricultural and Livestock Service has banned the manufacture, import, distribution, sale, possession and use of pesticides containing tributyltin, terbufos and methoxychlor. According to the agency, the ban is due to the high danger to people, animals and the environment. (SAG)
Governor of Michoacán, Mexico, Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla reported that the delivery of fertilizers to small farmers benefiting from the Fertilizers for Well-Being Program has already reached 60%. Bedolla reported that, in 2025, 41,343 tonnes of urea and diammonium phosphate will be distributed in the State to 75,891 farmers registered in the federal program. Delivery is expected to be completed in April. (Government of Michoacán)
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