Russian Fertilizer Producers Association reports 15-pct fall of exports in 2022
Exports to India have almost tripled, to the Middle East - rose 1.5 times
In 2022, exports of Russian fertilizers fell by 15%, year-on-year, to 31.6 million tonnes. The negative dynamics is explained by the introduction of anti-Russia sanctions, Russian Fertilizer Producers Association (RFPA) wrote in its Telegram channel.
“In summer, we expected the decrease of exports to fall by 20%. This confirms that Russian producers, starting from June-July, began to recover from the pressure of sanctions and to find new alternative ways of supply - leave the ports of the Baltic States for the ports of the Russian Federation, and increase supplies to the markets of friendly countries,” RFPA head Andrey Guryev commented.
Supplies of potash fertilizers to Europe have dropped 2.7 times this year, down 1.2 million tonnes to 0.7 million tonnes; supplies of phosphatic fertilisers have decreased 1.5 times to 2 million tonnes.
Exports to India have almost tripled to 3.6 million tonnes (mostly driven by the growth in supplies of phosphatic fertilizers), exports to the Middle East countries (mostly Turkey) totaled 700 thousand tonnes, up 1.5 times.
Andrey Guryev believes that the results of 2022 are affected by the disruption of supply chains between Russia and Belarus, which accounted for almost a quarter of global trade last year. In his opinion, the dynamics were also affected by the withdrawal of international container lines from the Russian market; the refusal of shipping companies to provide vessels for the transportation of fertilizers, and the rejection of insurers to provide their services; a significant increase in logistics costs faced by Russian companies; restrictions on the supply of technologies and equipment to Russia.
In the end of August 2022, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that due to Western sanctions, 7-8 million tonnes of Russian fertilizers and raw materials remained detained at transshipment terminals alone. On September 16, 2022, at a meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Russian President Vladimir Putin said that 300 000 tonnes of Russian fertilizers had accumulated in the seaports of the European Union, and Russia was ready to transfer them to developing countries free of charge. At the same time, he turned to the UN secretariat to influence the decision of the European Commission and demand that it remove "discriminatory restrictions" and ensure fertilizer access to the markets of developing countries.
