- When in mid 2021 year. began significant increases in prices of fertilizers, at then nobody thought that this would herald a rollercoaster of prices and markets, which in large mass will lead to a huge decrease in production capacity in Europe reaching even 70 percent., and also records in import of vehicles from Russia and Belarus.
- According to Eurostat data imports of fertilizers from Russia to Poland in the first fifty months 2024 year, it had a size of 1024 t. t, when through the whole 2023 year, it reached level 605 thousand tonnes. This record quantities – as by nearly 130 proc. more than a year previously.
- Production of vehicles in Europe has become too expensive. And this is also due to the European Union its self, which has imposed on its producers the so-called environmental burden.
- When in Ireland there was the production of vehicles by a native company, then prices were on the same level, as in other countries in Europe. When because of excessive and cheaper import vehicles, the company was forced to close factories, then the imported vehicles became more expensive. The effect is that not quite that mineral fertilizers in Ireland are more expensive than previously, that still are more expensive than in other EU countries.
- These are amounts higher by as much as a few hundred euros per ton.
European cargo market in crisis
European cargo market is experiencing one of the largest crisis in last years, on which high impact has increasing commodity prices and geopolitical tensions. There are also high costs of production, limited stocks and logistical problems causing rapid rising prices, but there and import of inputs from Russia and Belarus. This all makes that the industry stands under the wall. When in mid 2021 year. began significant increases in prices of fertilizers, at then nobody thought that this would herald a rollercoaster of prices and markets, which in large mass will lead to a huge decrease in production capacity in Europe reaching even 70 percent., and also records in import of fertilizers from Russia and Belarus. Simply put: European fertilizers have been replaced by those sourced from aggressor countries. We are also a country, which on this procedure can lose very much. This can have far widespread effects on the whole sector, and farmers feel harmed in this whole arrangement. Why is about the lack of decisions by the EU on the implementation of .tariffs on
ferries from the east, which really have contributed to opening that market and the opportunity
to buy ferries even cheaper, but at much lower costs for production and supporting
war activities. The last weeks showed, that there has been a light on the implementation of sanctions. Will will be used? Time will tell.
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Seeding fertilizers in February. Check the rules
Signals about problems have appeared already much earlier
Let’s return to history and recall, what caused it, that today the fertilizer in Europe and in Poland struggles with financial problems, and the whole market has dependent on imports. It was in the above mentioned 2021 year that seen significant increases in prices of imports. In January saletra ammonium priced was at about. 1120 zl/t nett, a urea at 1500 zl; in September already relatively at: about 2.1 thousand zl and 2300 zl/t nett. Subsequently these prices from day to day grew by something of zloty per ton, on the next day after they declined, until in March 2022 year. reached even five times the value of the January of the earlier year. The following months were not better, and such prices were bustling.
This caused first farmers to reduce their demand for mineral fertilizers and they used fewer of them, after the second -which that they also would have lost trust in producers of fertilizers, also those native, whose products they most used. There was an unwritten perception among farmers, that the prices of fertilizers were too high, exaggerated. This concurred with the availability of vehicles from the so-called East. East and the opportunity to buy cheaper, from which farmers took advantage of, the more so, that not only were they cheaper even by something of a lot per ton in comparison with native products, but were also more available. This situation increased especially in the second half of 2023 year, when those farmers were already very fatigued by high costs of productive resources, then they were also willing to use thefertilizers from import.
Import of fertilizers from both Russia, and Belarus has not restricted by the whole European Union . Of course, certain carriage companies from these countries were embargoed, but there have appeared in the market others, which “circumvented” regulations – the so-called. firms supervisors, behind which have sold fertilizers in European markets, in this Poland. Business was going and all the time was strengthening, leading to this, that at the end of last year it was Poland that became the largest importer of vehicles from Russia in the whole European Union. Behind us there were also such agricultural countries, as France and Germany. What are the numbers we are talking about? Great and record numbers. According to Eurostat data, imports of fertilizers from Russia to Poland in the first ten months of 2024 year. reached as a 1024 thousand t, when through the whole 2023 year, it reached a level of 605 thousand tonnes. This record quantities – as by nearly 130 proc. more than a year previously. From Belarus with rail we brought in the first nine months 228 t, a in the whole year 2023 – ok. 70 tys. t. How does the situation look in the European Union ? From other Eurostat data it appears, that on example in July 2024 year. EU imports of Russian vehicles reached the highest level for twenty months. This made that Russia’s share in European purchases exceeded 30 percent. And Russia has increased.
As reported by service Statista.com, in year 2023 it Russia was the largest global exporter of agricultural fertilizers. its exports were estimated at then to value about 15.2 billion dollars. Russia intensively started also investing in producing fertilizers. It increased the scale of production in a year even by 5 million t – as informed the media. Specifically production increased from 59 million t to 64 million t.
The year 2024 was a record year in terms of imports of vehicles from Russia
and Belarus, but this trend began, as we already wrote, in the second half of 2023 year. In the year
of war, that is in 2022, there were sanctions imposed on individual companies producing fertilizers in Russia, but with the
run of time a solution to such restrictions on the functioning in the market. firms of supervisors. They taking advantage of higher demand and playing with lower prices, sold Russian fertilizers bypassing legal regulations. This is not the only problem of the fertilizer industry. Another, from thewhose problems have started, are obviously high costs of producing fertilizers, that is the price of gas, energy, but also and emissions of carbon dioxide. Europe produces expensively, Russia expensively and without climate burdens.
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Sanctions on importing fertilizers from Russia and Belarus? KE wants to impose restrictions
Gas influences on prices of fertilizers
The turmoil in the market of fertilizers has begun also since mid 2021 . Then there are high costs for production, resulting from huge increases in gas and energy prices, but also and lower demand for fertilizers have caused that financial performance has started to revert. European carriage manufacturers began to fall in tarps. They limited their production, and even moved business to other countries, out of Europe.
In this place it is worth noting, that as calculated, in 2020 year, 50-70 proc. the costs of running fertilizer companies came from gas ground, after they approached one to 80 proc, because and the price of gas shocked. In year 2020 a megawatt-hour (MWh) costed about 6 euros, in 2021 – about 24 euros, and in half 2022 year. already 50 euros. This was not one record, because gas was getting expensive very fast. For an example in March 2022 year. quotes of contracts for gas with supply on the Dutch hub TF had stayed at level ok. 225 euros per MWh, and later even reached record 345 euros per MWh. Of course, now there have been reductions. In January 2025 year. the price of gas per MWh is about 46 euro, but already there is an increasing trend.
How to high gas prices reacted producers? Remind you, that in September 2021 year, Yara, a Norwegian producer of nitrogen fertilizers, has imposed restrictions on ammonia production at its plants. In the follow it was followed by German BASF and other fertilizer companies. Facilities in Great Britain have closed American manufacturer CF Industries, a similar action has been decided by Austrian Borealis AG, Lithuanian Achema, OCI in Holland.or Spanish Fertiberia. Every reason was mentioned as the high price of gas, but also the restrictions on access to other raw materials for production of fertilizers. And then there was no explosion of war in Ukraine. This conflict also changed the rules of the game. I that first affected that blocked companies from Russia and Belarus, but as we wrote earlier, in half 2023 year. imports from those directions to Europe have started growing.
At that time our family nation facilities did decide to stop production. They restricted their slightly after, because in August 2022 . Not in the same month, when the war broke out, European car manufacturers alerted,
that we are too very dependent on Russia in not only gas, but also and vehicles. –
40 percent of gas supplies in Europe come from Russia. A in total 25 percent. Europe’s
supply of three nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) come from Russia – were fed at that time. At th that time the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russian Federation recommended even to its domestic producers of vehicles to temporarily stop exports, which dropped on prices in Europe and in the world. Then there were already such concerns not . Russian gas, which had been sanctioned, was almost “sold” in expensive vehicles, which really had sanctions not involved.
Simultaneously at the same time Group Azota reported high profits, stating, that in the fourth quarter 2021 year. it recorded its best performance in the history of the Capital Group. These performances changed the perception by farmers of the Polish producer, which did fall in the tarapes and can not come out today.
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Camola: Without Polish producers, the prices of ferries from imports
Climate charges are killing productions of ferries
Production of ferries in Europe has become too expensive. And this is also due to the European Union its self, which has imposed on its producers.The so-called environmental burden. Producers of vehicles in the European Union, of course also and in Poland, they because they high costs of the permission to emission of carbon oxide (EU ETS), which affects the deterioration of their competitiveness to the so-called countries. third countries. Prices are rising, through which then the purchase of emissions has become a essential cost element. This is not only the activity of reducing volumes of the same permits, because their availability is increasingly decreasing, but also, a may fore all, this is the removal of barriers in the market to emission EU ETS. This influences an increase in cost not only the production of ammonia, but also and the energy itself.
Production in Europe is becoming unprofitable, because from one side affects this constantly increasing energy costs. From the other side there is a bureaucracy and constantly increasing regulations for protection of the environment, which also affects the increasing costs of production. This is why increasingly more companies even for this reason do not only restrict production, but transfer them into other parts of the world. Such has been done by the chemical company BASF, which has moved partially to China. This was informed in the half of last year. In early th this year from the counter there was another information about SKW Piesteritz – the largest producer of ammonia and urea in Germany, which has closed one of its plants for an indefinite time. The reason is problems with increasing imports of fertilizers and high prices of gas.
Today purchases of cheaper, imported fertilizers are apparently favorable and that is only in short term perspective. Why? Because not only the interest of fertilizer manufacturers is threatened here, but also and the farmers themselves, because in the eventual decline of the Polishfertilizersector,reductionofpricesoffertilizersfromtheeastortheretentionoftheircurrentlevel,isveryunlikely.Onthe contrary.LetforanexamplebethereIreland,onwhose mistakesweshouldlearn.Wheninthiscountrytherewastheproductionofvehiclesbythenativecompany,thenpriceswereonthesamelevel,asinothercountriesinEurope.Whenbecauseofexcessiveandcheaperimportvehicles,thecompanywasforcedtoclosefactories,thentheimportedvehiclesbecame more expensive.TheeffectisthatnotmuchthanmineralfertilizersinIrelandaremoreexpensivethanpreviously,thatstillaremoreexpensivethaninotherEUcountries.Thesearetheamountshigherevenbysomething.Europerton.InconsequencenowIrelandhasthemost expensiveintheEuropean Union.Ithispricestandardinthiscountryhasbeenheldfromthemomentwhenthenativemanufacturersstartedoperating there.Whohaslost the mostonthisloss?Farmers.That’s whyitwouldbe goodforthistimePolandtobewiserbeforetheharm,andnotaftertheharm.AlsothereistheEuropean Union,whichmustinterveneinthismarket,becausewithoutintroducingthecustomsonferrieswithRussiaandBelarus,despitealreadymulti-monthlyappealsbyfertilizerproducers,harmsitsselfandtheEuropeanfertilizer industry.Variant,inwhichthisimportdeterminesthepricingofproducts,threatensfoodsafetyandinfluencesincreasingprices.Dowewantthis.
