Q What is the size of the Australian fertilizer market?
A. The Australian fertilizer market represents approximately 2% of the world market.

Q How much has the market grown?
A. Due to drought conditions across all regions, the Australian fertilizer market has fallen by 20-25% in the last five years.

Q. What is happening with prices for fertilizer?
A. Prices for phosphates and urea remained relatively stable for the period January 2005 to December 2006. By the end of 2007, global fertilizer availability had declined driven by record demand. In 2008, extreme volatility in supply and demand saw a period of high demand at high prices, followed by a dramatic drop in demand for fertilizer and a drop in prices. As has occurred in previous cycles, supply and demand patterns return to normal once stockpiles are used.

Q. Why has there been volatility in pricing of fertilizer?
A. Australia operates in a world market which has seen prices driven up and then down within that broad context.

Q. How does supply and demand work in the fertilizer marketplace?
A. When demand is high and there is short supply due to positive expectations for crops, prices rise. Conversely, prices fall in times of more conservative provisioning by farmers, and hence, demand falls.

Q. Does Hi Fert produce its own fertilizer?
A. Hi Fert, like other fertilizer distributors buys fertilizer from within Australia and from global suppliers. Stringent quarantine requirements are applied to the sources of supply. Hi Fert adds value in the processing, blending and coating of base products that are distributed through an extensive dealer network.

Q. Why do farmers choose Hi Fert?
A. Many farmers choose Hi Fert because Hi Fert has a wide product range to meet all their crops' specific nutrient requirements and the distribution capacity to ensure the continuity of their fertilizer supply.