Characteristic features of the formation of the global and domestic markets of mineral fertilizers

Due to the changes in the dynamics of output, imports, exports and consumption of fertilizers in the world in general and in Ukraine in particular, increasingly important become the issues determining the characteristics of the formation of global and national markets of fertilizers. The paper studies socio-economic importance of the application of fertilizers for the humanity, analyzes the level of the use of fertilizers in the world in general and the growth rate of their use in some regions in particular during 2010-2014. The article provides the forecasts of global demand for fertilizers and investigates data on the volume and prices of fertilizers for 1961-2014. Shown the relationship between oil prices and different types of prices for fertilizers, made a comparative analysis of the dynamics of world and domestic prices for nitrogen, phosphate and potash fertilizers. In general, the author determines that with the continuous growth in demand for fertilizers and food distribution and spread of the environmental policy on rationalization of the use of soil resources in the world, Ukraine's fertilizer market is endangered because of its monopolistic position, dependence on the availability of raw materials and their prices, and greater relation to political decisions, including those in the international arena, rather than economic laws.