It's a good time to be a fertilizer mogul

I noted in January that 2007 had been an especially good year for Mosaic, one of the world's largest fertilizer companies and a top performer on Wall Street. Since then, the market has only gotten better for the Minnesota-based company. Here's an updated chart of Mosaic's stock price for the past year:

The St. Petersburg Times has a great interview with James Prokopanko, Mosaic's CEO. Chew on these stats, which go a long way toward explaining what is happening to the fertilizer business:

• It takes five years to get a phosphate (fertilizer) plant up and running
• Ammonia costs have tripled over the past decade
• Sulphur costs have gone from $55 to $450 in the past year
• Ocean shipping costs have gone from $35 to $100
• Morocco, "the Saudi Arabia of phosphate," has raised phosphate prices from $55 to $250 a ton. They're headed for $400 a ton
• China has imposed a 135 percent export tax on fertilizer
• The Indian government will dole out more on fertilizer subsidies in 2008 than it spends on its military

For more on fertilizer, check out today's New York Times story on the subject.