minerals

Na een lange periode van stabiliteit op de mestmarkt komt er langzaam weer wat beweging in de markt. Nu de graanoogst her en der van start gegaan is, begint de afzet richting akkerbouwers mondjesmaat op gang te komen, wat de handel voorzichtig in beweging zet. Prijsverlagingen zijn hierbij niet aan de orde. De markt neigt eerder omhoog. 

The manure market is still in a stable phase. Prices have remained virtually unchanged over the past period, while uncertainty remains about what will happen once the majority of plots are released. At the same time, traders differ in their opinions about how the market will develop towards that period.

Brussels is significantly increasing import duties on fertilizers from Russia and Belarus as of July 1. The duties will gradually increase to 100% of the value in 2028. With this step, the European Union wants to reduce its dependence on these countries and prevent Russia's war efforts against Ukraine from being financed via fertilizer exports.

After a favourable spring with falling prices, the manure market currently appears fairly stable. Although prices have hardly moved in recent weeks, traders point to signals that could indicate a turnaround. The uncertainty about the sales opportunities in the summer remains high, partly due to the limiting influence of NV areas on the placement space. At the same time, arable farmers want to make maximum use of the remaining placement space in order to boost the balance as much as possible. What effect does this have on pricing?

Now that spring – in which large quantities of manure have been spread – is coming to an end, the focus on the manure market is increasingly shifting towards the summer months. In those months, the sales opportunities are more limited and storage is becoming a more important issue again.

The cabinet decision of last Friday on nitrogen and the subsequent announcements on livestock farming have already put the phosphate market on edge a bit. Reason for this are, among other things, statements by Minister Wiersma. She seems to suggest that phosphate rights will again play a more important role for the position of dairy farms.

The European fertilizer market has been showing a quiet phase since April, especially in the nitrogen segment. Demand from arable farming and dairy farming is currently low, because the first fertilization moments for many crops have already passed. Grassland is still waiting for a growth spurt for the first cut and on arable land the first nitrogen applications have already been applied to the crops. What are the expectations for prices?

Now that the largest part of the spring application has been realized, the manure market is stabilizing. Especially since some rain is coming. It seems that the bottom of the manure market will soon be reached. The greatest pressure is off, although the difference per region remains clearly noticeable. Especially in the North of the Netherlands, the supply is still very ample. This is also reflected in the DCA collection contribution for the Leeuwarden region, which hardly decreases, in contrast to other surplus areas. 

April starts off like the entire month of March: with very dry and sunny weather. The end of the spreading season is approaching, because many livestock farmers have fertilized their own grassland and arable farmers have often already used it extensively. Now that the collection contributions for livestock farmers have been decreasing for a while, arable farmers are increasingly having to accept less when they take manure. What can they gain?

March is coming to an end and the weather has been exceptionally dry this month. This means a dream start to the season on the manure market, and sales are going very well. Every day, the manure can be driven out. Livestock farmers have often emptied the pits. The crowds will decrease in the coming weeks, especially now that the spring activities have started at arable farmers. In the meantime, the DCA collection contributions continue...

The early, nice weather ensures that the manure market is in full swing. The conditions are ideal, which means that manure is being spread on a massive scale. The demand for manure is currently enormous. Both livestock farmers and arable farmers are fertilizing every plot that can be fertilized. At this rate, with this continuing weather, the spreading will largely be over within a few weeks.

Dry and exceptionally warm weather has ensured that a lot of agricultural work has already been done in early March in almost all parts of the Netherlands. The first onions, potatoes and sugar beets are in the ground. For livestock farmers, manure is mainly on the menu. However, not everyone is eager. Isn't it a false start?

Early March shows gloriously beautiful weather, which offers ideal conditions for farmers to continue spreading manure. The market clearly responds to this. In the north, prices remain high, while in the south they continue to fall. Meanwhile, according to arable farmers, manure traders are not willing to pay enough for the supply of manure. How does that work?

The spreading season for manure has started and a lot of manure is being spread. Dairy farmers have taken full advantage of the good weather conditions in the first week to spread manure on their own grassland again. For arable farmers it is still too early to think about spreading manure, although they are following the market closely. Just like last week, we see that the decline in DCA collection contributions for cattle liquid manure in particular continues.