CURRENT TRENDS ON THE FERTILIZER INDUSTRY

• Jurisdiction: Derecho Internacional

International Mining and Oil & Gas Law, Development, and Investment
(Apr 2011)
CHAPTER 12A
CURRENT TRENDS ON THE FERTILIZER INDUSTRY
Juan Biset
Americas Vale Fertilizantes

JUAN CARLOS SERRA is a graduate of the Law School at The National University of Mexico (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) and obtained a Master's Degree from Georgetown University as a Fulbright Scholar. His formal education includes: a Diploma Degree in Corporate and Economic Law from The Panamerican University (Universidad Panamericana) and a Diploma Degree in Energy Law from The Iberoamerican University (Universidad Iberoamericana). He joined Basham Ringe y Correa SC in 1996 and has been appointed as a Partner of the Energy and Mining Practice of the firm. Mr. Serra has participated in areas such as planning and implementation of operations, both national and worldwide, including: joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, reorganizations, investments, acquisitions, and has solid experience participating in national and international public bidding as well as extensive advice in energy and mining issues. He is member of the Mexican Legal Bar (Barra Mexicana del Colegio de Abogados), the Institute of Energy Law, the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, and the International Bar Association (IBA).

RMMLF - Industrial Minerals Development Current trends on the fertilizer industry

The world today needs food, and will need more in future

Feeding the world today and to morrow will demand new approaches to agriculture and food production.

Already - 1 billion people are going hungry each day...

...and that number is set to grow quite drastically in coming years.

Indeed, a set of opposing trends is tugging at both sides of an already dangerously "short blanket":

- Population increase
ON THE DEMAND SIDE...
- Dietary changes in the developing world
- Drive for biofuel in the developed world
MEANWHILE ON THE SUPPLY SIDE...	- Plateauing yields
- Scarcity of resources
- Climate change

• In 2011, the world will have 7 billion people to feed

✓ POPULATION INCREASE

• By 2050, humanity's numbers will have grown by - 1/3, to 9 billion people

• More of the world is moving up the food chain

✓ DIETARY CHANGES

• Meat consumption in China is already double that of the US, and expected to keep on growing

• Biofuel initiatives have pitted cars vs. people for the world grain products

✓ HIOFUEL

• In 2010, -40% of the US corn harvest - 14% of the world's total edible maize (and enough corn to feed 350 m people for a year) - was used up by US ethanol distilleries

How much food will be needed?

Feeding the world in 2050 will require raising overall food production by 70 percent from current production levels

• Crop yields have been growing at a slower rate

✓

...