Fertilizer prices also going up

Prices of widely used fertilizers continued to rise in September on the back of several fuel price increases, further hiking the production costs of local food growers.

The Philippine Statistics Authority reported that fertilizer varieties such as Urea, Complete, Ammosul and Ammophos posted monthly and yearly increases.

On average, Urea posted the highest increase of 17.64 percent year-on-year to P1,055 a sack.

Meanwhile, a sack of Complete was sold at an average of P1,115.84, up 2.65 percent from the same period a year ago.

Varieties such as Ammosul and Ammophos rose by 8.79 percent and 5.74 percent from prices last year, respectively, to P609.58 and P950.21 a sack.

In Mindanao, where most of the country’s poorest regions are located, prices have gone up by as much as 27 percent.Other regions that registered higher increases included Western Visayas, Ilocos and Cagayan Valley.

Except for Ammophos, prices of fertilizers have gone up since the start of the year. As fuel pump prices continue to rise, transporting fertilizers, as well as other commodities, have become more costly.

According to government think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies, about 60 percent of fertilizer consumption goes to food crops, 38 percent of which is used for rice. The next major users are corn (21 percent), fruits and vegetables (19 percent) and sugarcane (7 percent).