by 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.
