Latvia is on the verge of a fertilizer crisis

Farmers in Latvia are seriously worried about the situation with the provision of mineral fertilizers. They believe, there are simply no volumes necessary for the autumn field work. As a result, both future crop yields and their quality will suffer.

All previous years, Latvia, like other countries of the European Union, imported the great share of mineral fertilizers needed for agriculture from Russia and Belarus. Due to the sanctions, this has become impossible. Producers of the European Union cannot compensate for the shortage of Russian fertilizers quickly since raw materials for them were also supplied from Russia.

Nevertheless, in non-sanctioned third countries, mineral fertilizers are available and cheap, and ships from Russian ports are free to go to Brazil with potassium chloride to cultivate fields of soybeans and corn, says Girts Celajs, owner of the Fertilizer Group.

In the current situation, there is no urgent need to adhere to the sanctions, “because in this way we only harm ourselves and our farmers.”

“Latvia needs about 150-200 thousand tons of mineral fertilizers per year, which is about 10 ships of cargo. If deliveries are planned ahead, it’s possible to get the necessary volume of fertilizers without too much stress. Besides, now the prices on the world market of mineral fertilizers from Russia and Belarus are 30-45% lower than in others, and transport routes to Latvia are the closest,” said Girts Celajs.

Source: Sputnik