Interview with the Deputy Director of Azot Trading House on the eve of the YuGAGRO 2022 exhibition
Sergey Nikolaevich Albrekht, Deputy Director of Trading House Azot, Candidate of Technical Sciences, told the Directorate of the International Agricultural Exhibition YuGAGRO 2022 about the company’s work during the transformation of the agricultural industry, changes in the mineral fertilizer market, the difficulties faced by Russian farmers, and the requirements that they apply to mineral fertilizers, as well as the importance of the YUGAGRO exhibition in the activities of the Azot Group of Companies. At YUGAGRO 2022, the company will present the entire range of mineral fertilizers from plants that are part of Azot Group of Companies.
Everyone is thinking about how agricultural producers will work during the transformation period now taking place on the market. What do you think about this and about the future of your company?
Knowing the peculiarities of the agricultural sector, we respect the professional work of agricultural producers working in conditions of various risks. Therefore, especially now, dialogue and reliance on the reputation of the participants in the process is important to continue cooperation. We believe that the open position, timely planning, flexible management will allow the Azot Group of Companies to continue providing agricultural producers with mineral fertilizers in accordance with the approved plans.
What are the main difficulties farmers are currently facing?
From our point of view, one of the difficulties is the increasing demand for mineral fertilizers, which requires the advance creation of their reserves. In particular, for ammonium nitrate: in order to prepare for application for the next season, to reduce peak demand, the start of the purchase is required immediately after the end of the previous sowing season, when the harvest has not yet been received and there is no accurate profit forecast. The advance purchase of mineral fertilizers requires external financing, which can only be provided if clear, concessional loans from the state are obtained in the first place. Partially, we, as manufacturers, also participate in solving this issue by creating warehouses, but we also do not have enough working capital to cope with this issue alone. For gas, electricity and logistics, you have to bear the costs immediately. As an option to solve this problem, it is possible to consider in the summer period the intervention by the state at fixed prices for the purchase of mineral fertilizers, the creation of a stock of which is required to begin as early as June-July.
How is the mineral fertilizer market changing now? What trends would you highlight in particular?
With the control of prices by the state, the market of mineral fertilizers as such has lost its meaning. Now there is a clear understanding of the prices at which mineral fertilizers will be sold, and suppliers will inevitably come to the conclusion that they must provide, first of all, regions geographically close to them. In addition, with a significant increase in application rates, it is necessary to have a clear supply plan, taking into account production capabilities. The growing needs of agriculture inevitably lead to the revival and creation of Fertilizer Storage Centers and the creation of the necessary stocks before the start of the sowing campaign. For the sowing season of 2023, with the established plans for the purchase of mineral fertilizers, in particular for ammonium nitrate, the intensive accumulation of the latter must begin as early as July, this will reduce the rush demand in the period February-April.
So the main trend is the correct planning of the link between production and supply in order to prepare for the sowing season: "We have finished the sowing season - we begin to prepare for the next one!".
There is an opinion that in Russia there is insufficient consumption of mineral fertilizers. What do you say about this? What determines the growth in consumption of mineral fertilizers in our country?
Russia has a great advantage - vast fertile soil resources, and each region has its own norms for applying mineral fertilizers. However, for each crop there is such a thing as the "removal" of mineral fertilizers. That is, in order to grow such and such a crop of any crop on such and such an area, it is required to add so much nitrogen, so much phosphorus, so much potassium and other microelements. Failure to do so depletes our soils and reduces their future potential. Therefore, in recent years, the concept of scientifically based application rates has been used everywhere, taking into account the full range of factors not only for crops and yields, but also for the current state of soils. Taking into account the application of scientifically based norms in all regions, the consumption of mineral fertilizers will grow even more.
We, as manufacturers of mineral fertilizers, pay a lot of attention to the study of this issue at our experimental sites together with our subsidiaries. The driver of business development is the growth of global food needs. Our mission is to provide conditions for the formation of the food security of the Russian Federation, as well as the global food base.
What are the requirements for mineral fertilizers agrarians today?
The most important requirement is the availability of high-quality mineral fertilizers during the sowing campaign. This implies both their cost with delivery, and the timeliness of deliveries, taking into account the seasonality of work in agriculture. During peak periods of consumption of mineral fertilizers, there is a requirement that they be on the market in sufficient quantities. It seems banal, but we note in parallel with the quantitative component of the quality - this is the compliance of mineral fertilizers with standards as a guarantee of a successful result. An important place in this is occupied by high-quality packaging, which allows you to preserve the properties of mineral fertilizers during transportation and storage before the start of application.
Your company is one of the regular participants of YUGAGRO. What is the significance of the exhibition for the work of your company? What products and novelties do you plan to present to visitors at YUGAGRO 2022?
The YUGAGRO exhibition is one of the largest exhibitions in Russia, which takes place during the most active phase of preparation for the future sowing campaign. It is convenient to present the products of the Azot Group of Companies to the general public, express our worldview and principles of work in personal communication with potential counterparties and regular consumers at the YUGAGRO site, where the organizers collect all the components of the agricultural industry. The South of Russia is the most significant market; farmers from all over the country seek to get here to share the latest trends in the agricultural industry, find reliable suppliers and partners. We will present the entire range of mineral fertilizers from plants belonging to the Azot Group of Companies at our booth at the YUGAGRO 2022 exhibition.
GC "Azot" — sponsor of one of the largest exhibitions in Russia of agricultural machinery, equipment and materials for the production and processing of agricultural crop products "YUGAGRO". You can seek advice and ask all your questions to specialists and managers of the company at the stand GC "Azot" D421 in pavilion No. 4 during the exhibition "YUGAGRO 2022"... The exhibition will take place on November 22-25, 2022 in Krasnodar, at the site of the "Expograd Yug" exhibition complex, st. Congress, 1. Free registration of YUGAGRO visitors is already open.