A Kingdom Built of Fertilizer(5)

Sinochem refused to comment on the issue, saying that now is a sensitive time due to ongoing negotiations over prices, and that they do not want to send signals that would disrupt the market.

Meanwhile, the world's largest fertilizer producer, Canadain-based PCS, has a 20 percent stake in Sinochem's Hong Kong holdings company. And Stephen Francis Dowdle, PCS' vice president of potassium fertilizer sales, is also Sinochem's non-executive director of the board.

Recently, more than half of all chemical fertilizers used for agriculture are compound fertilizers, with a third of them being potassium fertilizers, which are the most expensive. Since potassium fertilizer prices have reached 2,350 yuan per ton, many compound fertilizer producers have been suffering losses, and certain smaller firms have ceased production altogether.

Zhou says that if these exorbitant prices continue and factories continue to shut down, there will likely be a shortage in compound fertilizers during the peak agricultural season next year. If distributors seize the chance to raise prices even more, losses to the average farmers will be even more severe.