China has reportedly planned to halt its exports of sulfuric acid in May, a move expected to further rock a global fertilizer industry already shaken by the war in Iran.
Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz in response to Operation Epic Fury led to a spike in fertilizer costs, destabilizing the fertilizer industry as Persian Gulf-based companies had difficulty transiting their products through the strait and to the rest of the world.
Recommended Stories
Now, China is throwing another wrench into the already volatile world market, cutting off its exports of sulfuric acid to conserve its domestic resources heading into planting season, according to Bloomberg. Sulfuric acid is essential for many phosphate-based fertilizers.
About 45% of sulfur exports pass through the Strait of Hormuz, and China is one of the world’s largest exporters of sulfuric acid. China exported around $349 million worth of sulfuric acid in 2024, over $100 million more than any other country, according to global trade data analysis from the Observatory of Economic Complexity.
The combination of volatility around the Strait of Hormuz and China’s export halt does not bode well for fertilizer prices nor for the world’s biggest sulfuric acid importers, which includes the United States.
All eight major fertilizers have seen a price increase over the past month, including slight increases in the two major phosphate fertilizers, Diammonium Phosphate and Monoammonium Phosphate, according to DTN. Urea, the most common nitrogen-based fertilizer, has seen the biggest impacts on its pricing.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told reporters last week that despite the rise in costs and volatility of the fertilizer market, the overwhelming majority of American farmers will be unaffected by the price spike this planting season.
WORLD FACES SEVERE FOOD SUPPLY CRISIS IF STRAIT OF HORMUZ BLOCKADE CONTINUES
“The good news is that about 80% of our farmers, actually, last fall locked in their fertilizer,” Rollins said. “So as we’re moving into planting season, it’s only about 20% to 25% of our farmers that didn’t lock that in. We are working directly to ensure that we can get them what they need, and it won’t bankrupt them.”
“On December 8th, President Trump and Secretary Rollins announced $12 billion in one-time Farmer Bridge Payments to provide immediate relief to American farmers facing ongoing market disruptions, elevated input costs, and lingering impacts from years of failed trade and economic policies,” a USDA spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. “This program is on top of the over $30 Billion in ad hoc assistance to farmers since January 2025.”
