partnering for the future postretirement healthcare benefit liabilities for employees trans- ferred to Solae and the reduction of pension and postretirement healthcare benefits of certain U.S. employees. Segment operating profit declined 11% primarily due to the decrease in gross profit and increase in SG&A partially offset by foreign exchange gains. prices for soy commodity products. Volumes increased 10% due to organic growth and 15% due to the acquisition of Cereol. Soy commodity product prices increased sharply during the third  and fourth quarters of 2003 driven by the reduced U.S. soybean crop. Heightened concerns relating to mad cow disease late in the fourth quarter of 2003 also contributed to price increases. Fertilizer Segment Fertilizer segment net sales increased 41% due to higher average selling prices and an 8% increase in volumes. Selling prices benefited from higher international selling prices for imported fertilizers and raw materials, such as phosphate, ammonia and urea, which helped boost local prices as products are priced to import parity. International selling prices of  phosphate, ammonia and urea increased 23%, 47% and 58%, respectively, during 2003. Our sales of retail fertilizer products were robust, as South American farmers increased their plantings of soybeans in reaction to higher soybean prices. Our nutrient sales volumes increased 20% due to the increased demand for fertilizer raw materials. Cost of goods sold increased 62% in 2003 from 2002 due to the increased volumes, increased raw material costs due to the tight 2002/2003 United States old crop carryover, higher energy costs due to increases in gas prices and the October 2002 acquisition of Cereol. Cost of goods sold in 2003 reflected commodity inventory marked-to-market losses in our Brazilian and Argentine subsidiaries that resulted from the appreciation of the  real and peso of 22% and 15%, respectively, versus a devaluation of 34% and 51%, respectively, in 2002 which resulted in marked-to-market gains. Included in cost of goods sold in 2003 were $56 million of non-cash impairment charges on long-lived assets in our European oilseed processing operations, a $39 million decline in our allow- ances for recoverable taxes as a result of either cash received by us or compensation against taxes owed by us to the Argentine government and a curtailment gain of $15 million relating to the reduction of pension and postretirement healthcare benefits of certain U.S. employees. Cost of goods sold in 2002 included a $44 million charge relating to reserves for recoverable taxes from the Argentine government. Cost of goods sold increased 45% due to higher sales volumes and imported raw material costs. However, the higher costs of imported raw materials were mitigated by our subsidiary, Fosfertil’s, lower raw material costs since Fosfertil produces urea from raw materials not linked to international natural gas prices. Gross profit increased 27% as a result of higher fertilizer selling prices and volumes offset partially by increases in imported raw material costs and the sale of lower margin products. Gross profit in 2003 decreased 30% due to the increase in cost  of goods sold. Agribusiness gross profit through the third quarter of 2003 lagged behind the prior year primarily because of weak- nesses in North American and European oilseed processing  margins and a return to more normal margins in South America. These results were offset in part by improved margins in the fourth quarter of 2003 relating to effective risk management strategies, including ocean freight results. The decline in gross profit was more than offset by changes in the foreign exchange results from a loss of $171 million in 2002 to a gain of $89 million in 2003 on the net monetary U.S. dollar liability positions of our Brazilian and Argentine subsidiaries. SG&A increased 29% due to certain labor contingencies, increases in information technology and institutional advertising expenses, appreciation in the value of the Brazilian  real and increases in transactional taxes. Segment operating profit increased 26% primarily due to the increase in gross profit. 2002 included an extra month of segment operating profit of $5 million from Fosfertil, which had been reporting its results one month in arrears. Edible Oil Products Segment Edible oil products segment net sales increased 149% primarily due to a 111% increase in volumes as a result of the Cereol acquisition and 4% organic growth in our South American operations. SG&A increased 17% in 2003 primarily due to our acquisition of Cereol and higher costs associated with the increase in sales volumes. Also included in SG&A in 2003 was a non-cash curtail- ment gain of $5 million, relating to the reduction of pension and 39