The war in Ukraine continues to impact on the use of fertilisers across the European Union according to a new report.
According to the latest Eurostat report the application of sanctions on Russia has led to a sharp increase in fertiliser prices across Europe but there is no available data yet on prices for 2022.
The EU’s nitrogen-based fertiliser industry had been heavily dependent on the gas from Russia.
Latest analysis from Eurostat shows that the consumption of mineral fertiliser in agricultural production in the EU was 10.9 million tonnes in 2021 – which was equivalent to a year-on-year decrease of 2.2% compared with 2020.
This shows a decline in the use of fertiliser by 6.4% from the relative peak in 2017.
The figures also show the consumption of nitrogen-based fertilisers in agriculture was an estimated 9.8 million tonnes in the EU in 2021.
This marks a year on year decrease of 2%, a rate similar to the short term trend noted since 2017.
The figures show consumption of nitrogen-based fertilisers in agriculture in 2021 was highest in countries that are also among the EU’s main agricultural producers.
France (2 million tonnes), Germany (1.3 million tonnes), Poland (1 million tonnes, 2020 data) and Spain (1.0 million tonnes) together represented one half of total EU consumption, according to Eurostat.
In 2021, the consumption of phosphorus fertilisers in agriculture was 1.1 million tonnes.
This represented a decline of 3.8% on the level in 2020 to a level that was similar to the average over the previous decade.
The countries with the highest consumption of phosphorus-based fertilisers in agriculture in 2021 were: France, Spain, Poland, Romania, Italy and Germany.
Their consumption was almost three quarters of the EU’s total.
Agriland recently contacted a number of agri-stores across the country to find out what they are charging for a range of popular fertilisers.
A noted a difference of up to €50/t was found in prices for some of the compound fertilisers.
Merchants that have bought fertiliser more recently appear to be charging the lower rates, and merchants that have stock from a few weeks ago are having to charge the higher rates as prices continue to decline.