Moscow | Reuters — Russia, which controls up to 40 per cent of the global trade in ammonium nitrate, said on Tuesday it will stop exports of the fertilizer for one month until April 21 to ensure sufficient supply during the spring planting season.
Russia, a major fertilizer exporter, lacks the capacity to boost production this year amid a global supply crunch caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 24 per cent of global trade in ammonia, an ingredient of ammonium nitrate, passes.
WHY IT MATTERS: Russia controls up to 40 per cent of the global trade in ammonium nitrate. While Canada’s imports of Russian nitrogen fertilizer halted due to economic sanctions, at least one agriculture group has argued the federal government should lift tariffs in order to ease strain on Canadian farmers.
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The Agriculture Ministry said it had stopped all issued licenses for ammonium nitrate exports and will not issue new ones, with the exception of those pertaining to government contracts. Russia produces a quarter of the world’s ammonium nitrate.
“In the context of growing export demand for nitrogen fertilizers, the suspension of their supply abroad will allow the needs of the domestic market to be prioritized during the spring fieldwork season,” the ministry said.
Start of planting season
Ammonium nitrate is extensively used in agriculture at the start of the planting season. Russia has had export caps in place since 2021, while producers have been asked by the government to prioritize supplies to the domestic market over exports.
Russia exports ammonium nitrate to Brazil, India, Peru, Mongolia, Morocco, and Mozambique. It also exported a small quantity of ammonium nitrate to the U.S. in 2024.
Eurochem, Acron and Uralchem are Russia’s leading producers of ammonium nitrate.
Ukrainian drones in February hit the Dorogobuzh plant in Western Russia, Acron’s leading production asset, which makes about 11 per cent of Russia’s ammonium nitrate. The plant is not expected to be fully operational before May.
Ammonium nitrate is also used in the production of explosives.
— Reporting by Gleb Bryanski, Olga Popova and Anastasia Lyrchikova
