For the first time, France has overtaken Germany as the main market for unprocessed and processed manure. The more phosphate the manure contains per cubic meter, the greater the transport distance. This is evident from figures from the Netherlands Center for Manure Valuation (NCM).
Most of the unprocessed manure is sold close to the Dutch border in Germany and Belgium, while processed manure with a high proportion of phosphate and relatively little volume is transported much further away into Germany and France. Unprocessed manure to Germany mainly concerns poultry manure, while Belgium purchases unprocessed pig manure. France mainly purchased more hygienized pig manure.
More exports than necessary
Compared to 2018, phosphate exports to France grew by 1,8 million kilos, to almost 15 million kilos. Germany received a total of 2019 million kilos of phosphate in 14,5. After a rapid decline in the years 2016-2018 as a result of tightened German fertilizer legislation, phosphate exports to Germany hardly decreased in 2019. Belgium has been receiving approximately 6 million kilos of phosphate from animal manure unchanged for years.
More liquid manure was processed in 2019 than was required in kilos of phosphate and nitrogen of installation space. The phosphate placement space in the Netherlands was used for 89% and the nitrogen placement space for 94%. This underutilization has been going on since 2016. The available amount of phosphate in the Netherlands decreased from 2015 million kilos to 2019 million kilos in the period 194,1-171,3.
Bits and pieces of mineral concentrate
The manure surplus is much smaller than the sales space available in the Netherlands for fertilizer substitutes, the NCM concludes. The sales space is mainly located outside the concentration areas. Last year, 2,5 million nitrogen worth of mineral concentrate was produced, a fraction of the total manure surplus, expressed in kilos of nitrogen this is 60 million. Compared to 2018, the amount of nitrogen increased by half a million kilos of mineral concentrate, as much as the amount of nitrogen from discharge water from air scrubbers. This volume remained constant.
63% of the mineral concentrate was deposited in the South region concentration area. About 30% of manure processing companies produce mineral concentrate. In 2020, a total of 137 manure processing companies are active, of which 11 companies process by far the largest amount of the phosphate surplus.
Growth in manure processing
A quarter of the manure processing companies have expansion plans. The NCM notes that the development of manure processing in the Netherlands is largely influenced by the market for manure products and innovations, but also by government policy. Both in the Netherlands and in the European Union. Policy factors that determine manure processing are EU legislation for fertilizer substitutes and purchasing regulations in the Netherlands and future manure policy.