'Fertiliser rates disadvantage European farmers'

Copa-Cogeca, the European umbrella organization for agricultural sector representatives, has appealed to the European Commission (EC) to abolish customs duties and taxes on fertilizer imports.

According to the producer organisation, European farmers are disadvantaged in their competitiveness (by taxes). Copa-Cogeca mainly points to the unfair situation that has arisen. Farmers sell their products at world market prices, but pay far above market prices for mineral fertilizers.

Dedicated to Russia
The producer organization says that the import tariffs on ammonium nitrate from Russia "have caused a lot of damage to the competitiveness of European agricultural exports." This is due to the high import tariffs, which are at 4,8%. The alternative to this are fertilizers from Africa, but they contain a too high cadmium level and the European Parliament no longer wants that.

High prices for mineral fertilizers would account for an increasing share of the costs for European arable farmers. The organization attributes the fact that the European grain sector has lost a lot of market share in recent years (and has fallen from 2nd to 5th place as the largest grain exporter) to fertilizer rates.

Anne-Jan Doorn

Anne Jan Doorn is an arable expert at Boerenbusiness. He writes about the various arable farming markets and also focuses on the land and energy market.

aj.doorn@boerenbusiness. Nl

© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.