Ukrainian fertilizer producers discuss import control, opportunities for increasing exports

The possibilities of increasing the export of Ukrainian mineral fertilizers and controlling their import, particularly preventing the import of fertilizers of the aggressor country through other countries, were discussed by Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Vitaliy Koval at a working meeting with representatives of domestic mineral fertilizer producers at the ministry, according to a release from the Ministry of Agrarian Policy on its website.

"This meeting was to provide an answer to the question of how to increase the export of Ukrainian fertilizers to African countries, Asia and further to the EU. Representatives of (the largest nitrogen fertilizer producer) Ostchem and the Union of Chemists of Ukraine were unanimous at this meeting: import remains the key problem," Group DF Corporate Communications Director Oleh Arestarkhov told Interfax-Ukraine.

According to him, it is imports that prevent Ukrainian enterprises from expanding production and increasing exports, primarily imports from the countries of the former Soviet Union, which have a single market with Russia: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, which account for almost half (300,000 tonnes) of all imports of nitrogen fertilizers.

"They have access to cheap gas, they can dump. The total import of nitrogen fertilizers for four months of 2025 amounted to 1.2 million tonnes, of which nitrogen some 689,300 tonnes. For comparison, Ukrainian production after four months will be about 500,000 tonnes," Arestarkhov said.

He said Ukraine is losing the urea market, and a new trend is that China has begun to actively supply low-quality cheap ammonium sulfate.

According to a representative of Ostchem, due to growing imports, Ukrainian enterprises are operating at the limit of profitability, which restrains the volume of capital investments in industrial sites and forces people to be laid off.

An additional problem for Ukrainian manufacturers is also the Russian shelling, after which Ostchem stopped its workshops several times in the first quarter due to the destruction of external gas and energy infrastructure.

"It is logical that we are waiting for the support of the Government, we spoke about it openly at the meeting, we gave them all the statistics. The dominance of imports is one of the reasons for the decline in the industry. This is the reason why Dniproazot and SOE Odesa Port Plant cannot start production. If the government lends a shoulder, it will see an increase in exports," Chairman of the Union of Chemists of Ukraine Oleksiy Holubov told Interfax-Ukraine.

In turn, Minister Koval said the instruction of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy to expand the geography of exports, in particular to the countries of the Middle East and Africa, as well as to open a mineral fertilizer hub in South Africa and develop trade between the two countries.

"Ukraine has all the prerequisites for mineral fertilizers to become not only a means of strengthening food security within the country, but also a strategic export commodity," the head of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy said.

According to the press release, the meeting was also attended by representatives of investment companies, including UMG Investments.