Hurricane Ian Halts Production of Fertilizer Maker Responsible for 50% of North American Supply

Hurricane Ian made landfall on Wednesday and devastated the western coast of Florida.

However, the storm’s aftermath has implications that go well beyond the Sunshine State.

“One of the largest fertilizer companies in the world, Mosaic, is located right in the devastation path of Ian, which lingered for over 12 hours in Central Florida, dropping actual feet of rain in some areas, causing widespread flooding and infrastructure damage,” Natural News noted.

The Mosaic company in Central Florida provides 50% of the granulated phosphate fertilizer used by North American farmers, according to its online data sheet (PDF).

The company also provides 12% of the global supply for granulated phosphate fertilizer.

Hurricane Ian forced the temporary closure of Mosaic’s operations.

This will exacerbate the global fertilizer shortage.

From Fox Business:

With Hurricane Ian forcing the temporary closure of one of America’s largest fertilizer production facilities, food industry and agriculture experts are warning it could cause a spike in grocery store prices.

“There’s concern about storm surge, flooding, things that could impact land use, whether it’s for growing crops, whether it’s for fertilizer,” Morning Consult analyst Emily Moquin told FOX Business’ Jeff Flock Thursday, “and eventually those things to work their way into the ingredient costs and then work their way down through the system to the prices that we see in the grocery store.”

While Flock noted in his “Varney & Co.” report that it’s not currently peak fertilizer season, Hurricane Ian forced Florida fertilizer maker Mosaic Co. to halt operations across Polk County for an unspecified amount of time as disaster relief efforts get underway.

The company’s North American phosphate operations make up “approximately 50 percent of North American farmers’ supply of granular phosphate fertilizer, and 12 percent of the global supply” in a given year, the company said in a fact sheet.

https://twitter.com/realwillmeade/status/1574836358308401181

Hurricane Ian's damage to Florida fertilizer plant creates 'concern' about rising food prices

Not currently peak fertilizer season, but Hurricane Ian forced Mosaic ($MOS) to halt operations across Polk County for an unspecified amount of time https://t.co/ary725nehA #FoxBusiness pic.twitter.com/WytA6aQs4u

— Tracy (𝒞𝒽𝒾 ) (@chigrl) September 29, 2022

Hurricane Ian damages one of America’s largest fertilizer production facilities, Mosaic Co.

Mosaic produces 50 percent of American farmers’ supply of phosphate fertilizer, and 12 percent of the global supplyhttps://t.co/j33Blo6o27

— Cygnus (@CygnusAmerica) September 29, 2022

Natural News added:

This means Hurricane Ian just made the global fertilizer shortage far worse than what it was already, even after the fertilizer shortages caused by natural gas shutdowns in Europe (and the recent sabotage explosion of the Nord Stream pipelines).

The upshot of all this? Expect even more food scarcity and price inflation in 2023 and beyond, with high prices and crop scarcity to persist for many years to come.

We hope that Mosaic — which employs 3,000 full-time workers and 3,000 additional contractors — can get back on its feet as soon as possible and resume deliveries of phosphate fertilizer.