Shortage of ammonium nitrate also affects Russia

The program export ban of ammonium nitrate was imposed by Russia in early February. Before that, a quota had already been set for the export of this type of fertilizer. This has major consequences for the world market, because Russia accounts for approximately 45% of global production. Russian production is approximately 10 million tons per year. Ammonium nitrate is mainly produced by a series of factories in central Russia. They now have difficulty providing for their own agriculture.

According to Russian data, approximately 4,5 million tons are needed for domestic agriculture. High fertilizer prices caused many Russian agricultural companies to postpone their purchases of ammonium nitrate last fall, it said business magazine Kommersant. This is with the idea that prices would drop again over time.

Gas prices are also the culprit in Russia
The opposite happened, because the gas with which 80% of ammonium nitrate is produced has only become more expensive. As a result, many Russian agricultural companies still had to buy ammonium nitrate at the beginning of February. The demand is now so high that the factories cannot cope. According to officials and agricultural managers cited by Kommersant, the supply shortage in the important southern Russian grain region in particular amounts to around 100.000 tons on a monthly basis. The situation in other parts of the country is less clear.

The ammonium nitrate is used as a nutrient for both winter and summer grains. Now that this is no longer possible or is no longer possible on time, there are fears of a significantly smaller harvest.

Urea lean alternative
Some grain growers use urea as an alternative, but urea has several disadvantages compared to ammonium nitrate. For example, urea does not work well at lower temperatures and this substance also works less quickly. Some pessimistic forecasts already take into account at least 25% lower grain production in Russia as a result of the problems.