According to the Russian Association of Fertilizer Manufacturers (RAPU), in January-June 2019, the supply of mineral fertilizers to the domestic market increased by 18,2% compared to the same period last year, amounting to 2,2 million tons in active substance. In physical weight, the indicator grew by 14,1% to 5,46 million tons.
At the same time, export shipments in the first half of the year decreased by 2%. “Sales of crop production is often the only source of income for farms. Therefore, the increase in purchases is primarily due to the favorable situation in the Russian agro-industrial complex, - commented “Agroinvestment»Representative of RAPU. “Against the background of last year's successful results, agricultural enterprises are ready to invest more actively in mineral nutrition for the next harvest.”
According to the president of RAPU Andrey Guryev, Russian producers of mineral fertilizers have successfully coped with the rush demand for nitrogen fertilizers this spring - for two pre-sowing months all supplies of ammonium nitrate were directed to the domestic market. “Against the background of the record price of grain, literally on the eve of the spring field work, the demand for nitrogen fertilizers has grown wildly. At the same time, warehouse stocks of ammonium nitrate for the domestic market were formed based on the usual demand for this period, - said the representative of RAPU. - But the industry coped with it: they increased the production of nitrate, redirected export flows to the domestic market, partially replaced nitrate with other nitrogen fertilizers - urea and UAN. Therefore, there was no deficit ”.
Now it is also a priority to sell fertilizers to domestic farmers for autumn field work. “The demand of farmers for mineral fertilizers declared by the Ministry of Agriculture for 2019 remains at the level of 3,1 million tons of oil equivalent. and is satisfied in full, ”assures Guryev. Last year, supplies of mineral fertilizers to the domestic market reached a record 3,19 million tons of oil equivalent. According to Rosstat, on average, agricultural producers contributed 56,2 kg / ha a.c. mineral fertilizers - 7,4 kg / ha more than in 2017. “As the practice of the last three years shows, the actual demand for fertilizers turned out to be higher than the declared one. This year we expect a growth of about 5%, if, of course, the weather does not let down, ”says a representative of the RAPU.
The head of the association also draws attention to the fact that the increase in supplies is due to an increase in demand for the most advanced types of mineral fertilizers: complex NPK fertilizers, liquid mineral fertilizers, complex phosphorus fertilizers, urea. In the first half of the year, they accounted for more than 70% of the market growth. The use of the latest brands of products has become an economically viable means of increasing the volume of agricultural production, explains Guryev. In particular, fertilizers have become more affordable due to the containment of growth in prices for them. “Of course, there are seasonal fluctuations in demand that affect the market value of fertilizers, but Russian farmers still have the opportunity to purchase fertilizers at a lower price than their global competitors,” he adds.
According to Rosstat, in June the average prices of nitrogen fertilizers for the domestic market were at the level of 10,6 thousand rubles / ton, potash - 12,8 thousand rubles / ton, phosphorus - 16 thousand rubles / ton. Export prices for nitrogen fertilizers averaged 11,5 thousand rubles / ton, for potash fertilizers - 14 thousand rubles / ton. In June last year, Russian farmers bought nitrogen fertilizers at an average rate of 8,9 thousand rubles / ton, potash - at 8,8 thousand rubles / ton, phosphorus fertilizers - at 12,1 thousand rubles / ton.
Source: https://www.agroinvestor.ru/