The Russian agro-industrial complex in 2022, according to the Russian Ministry of Agriculture, increased the purchase of mineral fertilizers by 16% year-on-year - up to 5,8 million tons (in terms of 100% nutrients - a.i.), taking into account accumulated resources. In physical weight, Russian producers supplied 27% more products than last year, the press service of the Russian Association of Fertilizer Producers (RAPU) reports.
RAPU experts state that the production of the main types of mineral fertilizers (nitrogen, phosphorus, high-tech complex) increased by 3% in physical weight. At the same time, the production of potassium chloride, the use of which in Russian agriculture is extremely insignificant (2-3%), decreased by 35%, which was the result of a reduction in the export opportunities of domestic producers due to anti-Russian sanctions.
President of the Russian Association of Fertilizer Producers (RAPU) Andrey Guryev:
“The Russian agro-industrial complex has been and remains a strategic and priority consumer of the mineral fertilizer industry, as evidenced by the dynamics of deliveries. The year 2022 will be remembered for the already traditional early (back in October) fulfillment by manufacturers of the plan for annual supplies of fertilizers to the agro-industrial complex increased by the Ministry of Agriculture. Today, deliveries are underway for spring sowing, large consumers are already forming applications for autumn field work.
According to the Russian Ministry of Agriculture, thanks to the resources of mineral fertilizers accumulated by farmers last year, 20% of the projected purchase volume of 5,6 million tons of AI announced by the Russian agro-industrial complex for the current year has already been provided.
As noted in the message, representatives of the RAPU are sure that the producers will provide domestic farmers with mineral fertilizers in full, and express the hope that agricultural producers will purchase the entire volume of mineral fertilizers included in the plan of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia.
Association experts also emphasize that in 2022 the domestic mineral fertilizer industry faced new challenges. Industry enterprises are operating under unprecedented sanctions pressure. Foreign ports, carriers, banks, and insurers refuse to work with exporters of Russian mineral fertilizers in a number of areas. Nevertheless, the majority of large Russian manufacturers, able to act flexibly in changing market conditions, were able to reorient their supplies to consumers in friendly countries.
The report says that the Association hopes for the removal of sanctions barriers that cause significant damage to global food security: both restrictions on the export of Russian products and on the import of new technologies for the production of mineral fertilizers. Also, taking into account the prevailing macroeconomic realities, representatives of the RAPU express the opinion that it is necessary to at least partially unfreeze the market mechanisms for the sale of agrochemical products. In particular, they support the development of exchange trading in mineral fertilizers, as well as the proposal of SPIMEX to count the volume of exchange sales in fulfillment of the annual plan for the supply of mineral fertilizers to Russian consumers.
Despite the problems of international trade in fertilizers, RAPU companies continue to invest in their development and modernization of existing facilities. Over the past 9 years, about 1,8 trillion rubles have been invested, which ensured an increase in production volumes by almost a third, winning and maintaining the second place in the world in the production of fertilizers.”