Fertilizer market during martial law: a meeting of the Ministry of Agriculture
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy together with representatives of the All-Ukrainian Congress of Farmers and other relevant associations discussed the situation on the market of mineral fertilizers in Ukraine.
Nitrogen fertilizers
The volume of nitrogen fertilizer deliveries in November-May of this season amounted to 2005.6 thousand tons, which is 33% less than in the previous period. Of these, the volume of shipments of Ukrainian products amounted to 1150.9 thousand tons, which is 53% less than in the previous period. And the volume of imports, respectively, increased by 56% - to 855.5 thousand tons.
In addition, with the beginning of a large-scale invasion of Russia, from March to May, the volume of production of nitrogen fertilizers by domestic producers decreased by 5 times compared to the same period last year. Therefore, almost the entire volume was sent to the domestic market.
Note that from March to May, the volume of imports of nitrogen fertilizers also decreased by 5 times.
NPK and NP fertilizers
Regarding NPK and NP fertilizers, it should be noted that the volume of production of Ukrainian complex fertilizers from March to May compared to the same period in the previous period decreased by 3 times. And the volume of imports during this period decreased by more than 6 times.
Potassium chloride
The most painful issue is the potassium chloride sector, as it is completely import-dependent.
Moreover, a third of these fertilizers used to come from Belarus.
According to the results of 2021, the supply of potassium on the Ukrainian market consisted of 199.2 thousand tons of Belarusian product, 72.6 thousand tons of Uzbek product and 9.2 thousand tons of other suppliers, mostly European.
To date, supplies of fertilizers from Belarus have been suspended. To replace them, 40% of potassium is supplied from Germany. There are also deliveries from Poland and Serbia.
However, such supplies of fertilizers from other countries require an additional logistical solution, as Ukrainian ports are blocked and other checkpoints are usually not suitable for transshipment of fertilizers.
All this is further complicated by security issues and low solvency of agricultural producers.
The meeting took place on June 20, 2022, and also discussed the possibility of exporting microfertilizers, in particular microfertilizers for fodder, the products of which fall under the codes of UKT FEA 3105 90 80 90 and 3105 20 10 00 subgroup of UKT FEA 3105.
It is expected that from July 1, 2022, the restrictions on critical imports and exports should be lifted.
