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Fertilizer is one of Russia’s important strategic commodities. Along with wheat, it is dubbed the 2 treasures of the land of the white birch due to its importance in the global market.
Russia is the world’s largest producer of fertilizers, accounting for about 15% of global consumption. The average annual fertilizer output of Russia is estimated at about 55 million tons. Notably, Russia has increased its exports of this commodity to our country in the first month of the year. Specifically, in January 2023, our country imported 71,911 tons of fertilizers from Russia, equivalent to over 43.7 million USD, an increase of 33 times in output and over 42 times in value compared to January 2023. Compared to December 2023, output increased by 27% and value increased by 87%.
The import price reached $609/ton, an increase of 43.6% compared to the previous month.
Russia is the second largest supplier of fertilizers to Vietnam, second only to China. In 2023, our country imported 288,727 tons of fertilizers from Russia, equivalent to over 132 million USD. Thus, in the first month of the year, the amount of imported fertilizers from Russia equaled 1/4 of the total output in the whole year 2023 combined.
Besides Russia and China, our country also imports fertilizers from other countries including Laos, South Korea, Indonesia, Canada, Japan,… In January, our country imported 414,850 tons of fertilizers, worth over 138.3 million USD, an increase of 198.6% in quantity and 143.7% compared to the same period last year.
At the beginning of 2022, the EU’s imposition of sanctions on Russia’s transport activities after the conflict in Ukraine made the country’s grain and fertilizers unable to be exported globally. This has led to a severe food crisis, with the prices of wheat and fertilizers entering a period of inflation.
As of June 20, 2022, the European Union’s High Representative for Security and Foreign Policy Josep Borrell stated that the purchase of food and fertilizers from Russia is not subject to any sanctions.
“Our sanctions do not target food or fertilizers. All transactions for food and fertilizers from Russia are unimpeded,” Mr. Josep said.
Previously, the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department announced a new general license on March 24, in which it removed Russian fertilizers from possible sanctions. This move is said to aim to protect American farmers from shortages of chemical products due to rising food prices in the country.
Europe and the US rely heavily on supplies from Russia. Specifically, Europe imports 25% of urea, 15% of ammonium nitrate, 1/3 of phosphate fertilizers, and 35% of potash from the Russian Federation. Russia’s market share of potash in the US is 6%, phosphate is 20%, and urea accounts for 13%.
According to the latest data from the US statistics agency, from January to July 2023, the US imported a record amount of fertilizers from Russia – worth $944 million.
In addition to the US, the amount of Russian fertilizers purchased by German farmers has increased by about 334%, from 38.5 thousand tons in July 2022 to 167 thousand tons as of June 2023. The import of urea alone increased by 304% in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period last year. As a result, Russia’s share in the total volume of fertilizer imports of this country has increased from 5.6% to nearly 18%.
