# Friday’s Insider: The Butterfly Effect — Fertilizer Daily

> The US Trade Representative proposed service fees of up to $1 million to $1.5 million per US port call for ships with Chinese ownership or Chinese-built vessels. Operators with over half of new orders at Chinese yards would face an extra $1 million per vessel. Russian granular urea sold to Brazil at $360 to $365/t CFR, a steep discount from the previous week.

- Date: 2025-03-21 · published 2025-03-21T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: logistics · region US · magnitude medium
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/25928-friday-s-insider-the-butterfly-effect-fertilizer-daily
- Commodities: [Ocean Grain Freight](https://feedsoft.ai/c/OCEANFRT.md), [Urea](https://feedsoft.ai/c/UREA.md)

## Why it matters

The proposed fees would push cargoes away from US ports, raising ocean freight costs and diverting shipments. Urea and other fertilizer flows to Brazil would benefit from cheaper Russian supply, which pressures prices.

## Read by commodity

- UREA: bearish ▼
- OCEANFRT: bullish ▲

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| UREA | 2020-03-11 | [How Coronavirus Plays A Role In Fertilizer Pricing \| Hoosier Ag Today](https://feedsoft.ai/events/54078-how-coronavirus-plays-a-role-in-fertilizer-pricing-hoosier-ag-today.md) | -0.6% | -1.7% |
| UREA | 2022-11-09 | [Fertilizer Prices Continue to Slump as Rail Strike Worries Reignite](https://feedsoft.ai/events/39003-fertilizer-prices-continue-to-slump-as-rail-strike-worries-reignite.md) | -1.4% | -9.8% |
| UREA | 2026-07-28 | [Urea's cheap but farmers urged to act on phosphate as prices soar \| Farm Online \| ACT](https://feedsoft.ai/events/18656-urea-s-cheap-but-farmers-urged-to-act-on-phosphate-as-prices-soar-farm-online.md) | +3.8% | -1.2% |

## Sources

- fertilizerdaily.com: https://www.fertilizerdaily.com/20250321-fridays-insider-the-butterfly-effect/

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.