Most Americans picture food coming from a farm. The truth is, it comes from a supply chain that wraps around the world first.
Driving the news: A recent Forbes analysis traced how global events keep tightening the world’s crop nutrient supply, from export controls on essential inputs to disrupted shipping routes.
But not every link runs through foreign ports. Phosphate is different.
By the numbers:
Why it matters: Phosphate feeds American agriculture, which underpins American food security. Without it, crop yields would drop by around 40%. The same domestic supply also feeds new American industries, from rare earth element recovery to lithium iron phosphate batteries powering the next wave of electric vehicles.
The big picture: America has a domestic phosphate supply most countries are still working toward. Holding onto it takes work.
The bottom line: Global markets will keep moving. American phosphate is one link in the chain that holds.
Food security means national security.
