Collaboration Agreement to make African fertilizer market information publicly available
June 13, 2019 – Montreal – Global commodity pricing agency Argus has signed a collaboration agreement with the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) that will improve access to information regarding the traditionally opaque and complex African fertilizer sector.
Africa offers huge potential for growth in fertilizer use. The region accounts for 17 percent of the global population but consumes only 2-3 percent of the world’s fertilizer supplies. The use of fertilizers varies considerably across the continent but can be as low as 10 kilograms of nutrients per hectare, compared with an average of around 100 kg/hectare in developed countries.
IFDC focuses on increasing and sustaining food security and agricultural productivity in more than 20 developing countries, particularly in Africa. The organization will carry key fertilizer price information provided by Argus on the AfricaFertilizer.org website. These prices will include international benchmarks for urea, ammonium sulphate, ammonia, processed phosphates and NPK blends. All price information and market commentary provided by Argus will be freely available for anyone to view.
Argus has a strong team of more than 30 fertilizer experts operating internationally across eight locations. It produces a range of services covering all aspects of fertilizer markets, including price reports, forecasts and in-depth studies.
Argus and IFDC will also work together on industry events, including Argus’ portfolio of 12 international fertilizer conferences.
“Africa is key to growth in international fertilizer markets,” Argus chairman and chief executive Adrian Binks said. “With usage much lower than elsewhere, there is considerable opportunity to expand, which would increase crop yields. We are glad to be formalizing our long-standing relationship with IFDC to make fertilizer pricing more transparent.”
“Argus is a global leader in fertilizer price and related information, and IFDC has years of on-the-ground expertise in input markets in Africa and Asia,” IFDC president and chief executive Albin Hubscher said. “We are delighted that this agreement will enable us to share key data and analysis with our stakeholders. We expect that this will help our mission to improve soil fertility and crop nutrition in developing countries around the world.”
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Contact Information
IFDC
Rob Groot
rgroot@ifdc.org
Argus
London
Seana Lanigan
+44 20 7780 4272
seana.lanigan@argusmedia.com
Houston
Melanie Cruthirds
+1 713 968 0000
melanie.cruthirds@argusmedia.com
Singapore
Pierre Lever
+65 6496 9960
mediasg@argusmedia.com
Moscow
Alexey Komarov
+7 495 933 75 71
alexey.komarov@argusmedia.com
About Argus Media
Argus is an independent media organisation with almost 1,000 staff. It is headquartered in London and has 23 offices in the world’s principal commodity trading and production centres. Argus produces price assessments and analysis of international energy and other commodity markets, and offers bespoke consulting services and industry-leading conferences.
Companies in 140 countries around the world use Argus data to index physical trade and as benchmarks in financial derivative markets as well as for analysis and planning purposes.
Argus was founded in 1970 and is a privately held UK-registered company. It is owned by employee shareholders and global growth equity firm General Atlantic.
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