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Canada
Canadian fertilizer industry achieves record shipments in 2020
September 2, 2020 by Manure Manager
Canada’s fertilizer industry overcame rail disruptions and COVID-19 to ensure Canadian farmers had the crop nutrients they needed for planting this spring, new Statistics Canada data shows.
The industry not only delivered on its commitments to farmers, but based on cumulative data reported by Statistics Canada, fertilizer shipments of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer reached record levels in Canada in 2020. Shipments of potash and sulphur were steady, down only slightly from near record levels, for the year that ended June 30.
As Canada begins to recover from the global COVID-19 pandemic, Canadian fertilizer is essential for the secure and reliable growth of food in Canada and around the world. A successful harvest this fall will be critical to Canada’s long-term goal of recovery, following a year of considerable uncertainty due to the global pandemic. The fertilizer industry also had to work overtime to recover from a rail strike in late 2019 and blockades in early 2020.
“The fertilizer industry takes our role in feeding the world seriously. It’s in everyone’s interest to have a successful harvest this fall and to be prepared for spring planting in 2021,” said Garth Whyte, president and CEO at Fertilizer Canada. “To do that, we must invest in the critical infrastructure to maintain our global competitiveness, especially as we look to uncertain weather in the coming winter months.”
Fertilizer Canada continues to engage with both federal and provincial governments to maintain our status as an essential service. Governments must continue to provide the necessary flexibility to ensure the delivery of fertilizer, which is not only critical for a successful planting season, but for key inputs to our manufacturing processes.
Canadian shipments, based on nutrient content, reached record highs of 2.672 million tonnes of nitrogen, up two percent from the year before, and 1.137 million tonnes of phosphorus, marginally higher than 2018-19. The industry shipped 410,000 nutrient tonnes of potassium (potash) and 353,000 tonnes of sulphur.
