ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF THE CHANGING STRUCTURE OF THE U.S. FERTILIZER INDUSTRY

This article evaluates structural changes in the U.S. nitrogen fertilizer industry by using a decomposed Negative Binomial Regression model. Results indicate that the U.S. nitrogen fertilizer industry can be characterized as an industry involving price leadership in oligopoly. Declining profit-margins might have forced fertilizer producers to consolidate and eliminate duplicate operations. The market concentration level is expected to intensify as the natural gas price rises.