Potassium is the seventh most abundant element in the Earth's crust, and is
the third major plant and crop nutrient after nitrogen and phosphorus. It has
been used since antiquity as a soil fertilizer (about 90% of current use).
Potash is important for agriculture because it improves water retention, yield,
nutrient value, taste, colour, texture and disease resistance of food crops. It
has wide application to fruit and vegetables, rice, wheat and other grains,
sugar, corn, soybeans, palm oil and cotton, all of which benefit from the
nutrient's quality enhancing properties.
Demand for food and animal feed has been on the rise since 2000. The U.S.
Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service (ERS) attributes the trend
to average annual population increases of 75 million people around the world.
Geographically, economic growth in Asia and Latin America greatly contributed to
the increased use of potash-based fertilizer. Rising incomes in developing
countries also was a factor in the growing potash and fertilizer use. With more
money in the household budget, consumers added more meat and dairy products to
their diets. This shift in eating patterns required more acres to be planted,
more fertilizer to be applied and more animals to be fed -- all requiring more
potash.
The world's largest consumers of potash are China, the United States, Brazil and
India. Brazil imports 90% of the potash it needs.
Potash imports and exports are often reported in "K2O equivalent", although
fertilizer never contains potassium oxide, per se, because potassium oxide is
caustic and hygroscopic. See Potassium oxide in fertilizers.
Potash prices have soared in recent years. What was once a commodity worth about
$200 a tonne is expected in 2009 to reach $1,500 by 2020; Vancouver prices are
US$872.50 per tonne in 2009, which is a record high
