21.08.2023, Berlin.
Fertilizers from the Russian Federation filled the German market, the German Bild informed on August 20.
At the same time, the cost of fertilizer production in Germany itself has increased 2.5 times due to the refusal to use gas from Russia.
According to the newspaper, fertilizer exports are not subject to EU sanctions. “And at a time when gas is cheap in Russia, the rejection of Russian gas has had fatal consequences for the [German] chemical industry: gas prices have risen by 40% and the costs of producing fertilizers labeled ‘Made in Germany’ have partly risen by 150%,” the article reads.
As a result, “gas-intensive fertilizer (nitrogen and ammonia) production has become unprofitable.” The Bild noted that “according to industry data, imports of Russian fertilizers to the EU increased fivefold during the year.”
As a result, some fertilizer producers in Germany are reporting that they are ceasing production. Thus, earlier it became known that BASF reported the closure of the ammonia plant in Ludwigshafen am Rhein. SKW Stickstoffoffwerke Piesteritz GmbH (SKWP) is experiencing the same difficulties, explaining the difficulties as “politically legalized cheap imports [of fertilizers] from Russia to Germany.”
“The entire fertilizer industry in Germany is operating at a huge loss,” Sven Schulze, Minister of Economy and Agriculture for the state of Saxony-Anhalt, told Bild. He called on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to take action to change the situation.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
