Banff & Buchan MSP Stewart Stevenson has welcomed the news that the UK’s only fertiliser manufacturer, GrowHow, has announced fertiliser prices for July of £175-£178 per tonne on-farm for Nitram.
Mr Stevenson had previously called for the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to investigate the UK fertiliser market following meetings with concerned farmers in his constituency who highlighted a 200 percent increase in profits of fertiliser companies such as Yara. Fertiliser prices peaked at over £400 per tonne at the end of 2008 and today’s announcement puts prices back at 2007 average prices.
Commenting, Mr Stevenson said:
“Mergers and acquisitions in recent years have left the UK fertiliser market dominated by one or two major players, reducing choice and competition for the customer.
“As a result of that and also global factors, fertiliser prices rocketed, putting real pressure on North-east farmers.
“I’m therefore very pleased at today’s news from GrowHow on their pricing structure which also seems to have met with approval from NFUS.”
SNP Westminster candidate for Banff & Buchan Eilidh Whiteford added:
“This is good news for customers of GrowHow and I recognise the good work done by the NFUS in building a constructive dialogue with the company.
“I hope that other fertiliser companies will follow this lead. If GrowHow can achieve this price reduction then there’s no reason why other companies cannot do the same to support Scottish farming.”