Fertilizer consumption in Russia may reach 8 million tons

Russian farmers acquired over 3.15 million tons of mineral fertilizers at the beginning of June 2021. Compared to the same period last year, the volume of mineral fertilizer accumulated by agricultural producers increased by 19%.

The use of mineral fertilizers in Russia is growing. Over the past 10 years, it has practically doubled. The demand for mineral fertilizers declared by the Russian Ministry of Agriculture for 2021 is 4.52 million tons, which is almost a quarter more than in 2020. 3.1 million tons of them are required for spring field works, which should be completed by July 1. Thus, the demand of the Russian agro-industrial complex for mineral fertilizers for spring sowing was met in full.

In total, by the beginning of June, Russian producers provided about 70% of the forecasted needs of farmers for this year.

“Amid the explosive growth in global demand for mineral fertilizers during the recovery from the pandemic, the domestic market remains a priority for Russian producers. Thanks to the support of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia, Russian agriculture is continuously increasing the use of mineral fertilizers: over the past five years, the consumption of mineral fertilizers has grown 1.5 times to 4 million tons, and by 2025 this figure is expected to double,” said the President of the Russian Fertilizer Producers Association (RFPA) and PhosAgro CEO Andrey Guryev. “Russian producers are definitely interested in the development of the domestic market. Along with the investments in the modernization and construction of production facilities of 1.6 trillion rubles (approximately $22 billion) scheduled until 2026, we will continue the systematic work to increase the availability of mineral fertilizers.”

Particularly, the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia successfully applies the pricing method for mineral fertilizers, while producers of mineral fertilizers are implementing a set of measures to control prices against the sharp changes in the macroeconomic situation. This keeps prices for Russian farmers at a lower level than for their foreign competitors. According to the information of the Federal State Statistics Service, the difference between the export price and the price on the domestic market this spring reached 20-30%, while domestic prices for mineral fertilizers in some large agricultural countries are even higher than global ones. This allows Russian exporters of agricultural products to effectively compete in global food markets.