Over the past five years, Russia has doubled its fertilizer exports to Africa, with the country's market share on the continent reaching 12%, said Andrey Guryev, president of the Russian Fertilizer Producers Association (RFPA), adding that Russian companies plan to increase deliveries.
"Russia has more than doubled the supply of mineral fertilizers to Africa - from about 770,000 tonnes in 2018 to 1.6 million tonnes in 2022. This is about 12% of all mineral fertilizer imports to Africa," he said.
According to Guryev, despite a 15% decrease in the total volume of Russian fertilizer exports in 2022, producers were able to redirect cargo flows and keep the country as the world's largest exporter with a share of 18%.
"Among the countries where we redirected shipments, there are also African sates. Among our largest partners are South Africa, Morocco, Senegal, Tanzania, Cote d'Ivoire, Kenya, Cameroon," the head of the association said.
According to the RFPA, the largest supplier of fertilizers to the African market is PhosAgro with a 33% share of deliveries, the share of EuroChem is 25%, the Uralchem-Uralkali group - 24%, Acron - 12%. The companies mainly supply to the continent ammonium nitrate, ammophos, and complex NPK fertilizers.
Commenting on the forecasts for supplies to Africa, Guryev noted that Russian producers have strategies for entering various African markets, while the current price environment allows the continent to increase the volume of fertilizer purchases.
"1.6 million tonnes is 12% of all mineral fertilizer imports to Africa. Accordingly, within this corridor, of course, Russia can competitively increase its market share regardless of the growth in demand from Africa," he stated.
At the same time, he noted that competition among producers in Africa is high, adding that the continent is a large growing competitive market for the consumption of mineral fertilizers.
Guryev emphasized that in the future the continent will create several large hubs for the reception of mineral fertilizers. However, he explained, the region needs to remove some obstacles and, in particular, improve logistics by developing port, transport and energy infrastructure, as well as provide training for farmers.
"As for the great future, the African continent will become a huge player in the agricultural market [...].The main task is to establish production and meet the growing domestic demand, and here Russian science and agricultural institutions, I am sure, will be able to play a huge role in teaching and developing high-quality agronomy in all countries of the continent," he said.
According to Mikhail Sterkin, PhosAgro's Deputy General Director for sales, marketing and logistics, one of the world’s leading phosphate-based fertilizer producers plans to increase supplies to Africa by 15-20% this year, and double exports to more than 1 million tonnes by 2025.
In 2022, the company supplied 540,000 tonnes to the continent, becoming the largest Russian fertilizer supplier to Africa with a 33% share. The company sells monoammonium phosphate, carbamide, ammonium nitrate, and complex fertilizers to 21 African countries.
"Our main partners are South Africa, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, Tanzania, Mozambique. Naturally, we will definitely develop our deliveries to other African countries," Sterkin said.
He added that PhosAgro had to redirect export shipments of about 2 million tonnes due to restrictions and sanctions. In the future, the company plans to launch a comprehensive training program for farmers in Russia and Africa on the use of fertilizers and agricultural practices.