The Group DF international group of companies welcomes the government's decision to lift restrictions on the export of fertilizers and believes that Ukrainian producers of nitrogen fertilizers can take up to 15% of the European Union market.
This is stated in the message of the press service of Group DF, Ukrainian News Agency reports.
"The government's decision to lift export restrictions is absolutely logical. In Ukraine, more than 160,000 tons of fertilizers are stored in warehouses - both Ukrainian and imported. With the surplus of nitrogen fertilizers in the domestic market and the current market conditions, export restrictions have no economic logic. Ukraine fully provides itself with nitrogen fertilizers and is able to gradually develop previously lost Western markets. Restarting the export of fertilizers can give a kind of "second breath" to the Ukrainian chemical industry - these are new jobs and even an increase in production," Oleh Arestarkhov, head of corporate communications at Group DF, was quoted as saying.
According to Arestarkhov, Ostchem's export destinations remain unchanged - Asia, the EU, India, Bangladesh.
However, the EU market may become one of the most promising export markets for Ukrainian fertilizers in the next 2 years, including due to the fact that Ukraine will soon become a member of the EU.
"Ukrainian plants are able to produce more than 2 million tons of mineral fertilizers per year for EU markets. Our plants have achieved good cost indicators, they are competitive due to the modernization of industrial sites, due to the lower cost of labor. Whether Ukraine can realize such export prospects depends on many factors. In particular, from how quickly the war will end and the destroyed export logistics chains, primarily marine ones, will be restored; from the ratio of gas and fertilizer prices in global markets; as well as from the consistency of the EU policy on sanctions against Russian manufacturers," Arestarkhov added.
According to Ostchem analysts, the EU market size is about 13-14 million tons, according to an optimistic scenario, Ukrainian producers of nitrogen fertilizers can take up to 15% of the EU market.
The most promising for Ukrainian producers from the point of view of export to the EU are export of urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), limestone-ammonium nitrate (LAN), and urea.
According to forecasts of the Union of Chemists of Ukraine, domestic consumption of nitrogen fertilizers by the end of 2022, taking into account the fall in demand for 40-70%, will range from 433,000 tons to 866,000 tons.
Thus, the chemical industry is able to 100% provide domestic demand for nitrogen fertilizers even in the absence of imports.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the Cabinet of Ministers canceled the ban on the export of rye and mineral fertilizers, an automatic licensing regime was introduced for these goods.
Who we are: About us, Contacts. How we write news and our principles: Editorial code. We did our best. If you found this valuable – please support us.
To request a correction, please send an email.