The crux of the issue was should Ukraine delay the
introduction of anti-dumping duties on Russian fertiliser until after parliament
had passed a bill conferring zero duties on nitrogen fertiliser from other
countries.
I signed that blog off by saying it was worth keeping an eye
on the story then thought nothing more of it and, as I heard nothing else, assumed
the story had resolved itself and the problem had gone away.
Then yesterday I was contacted by someone asking if I could
confirm news on a fertiliser shortage in Ukraine as a contact of his in Kharkov
had not received an order and the factory had closed.
While it’s not entirely unusual for suppliers in Ukraine to renege
of orders (I once had a fertiliser company completely disappear, their office
was literally empty when we went back) it did make me think of my January fertiliser
shortage blog.
Then this morning, Ukraine’s Ministry of Agriculture announced
that Ukrainian farmers are provided with fertiliser for the full range of
spring field works with a whole load of statistics to back this up.
But then go on to say that farmers are worried about the
shutdown of Ukrainian chemical enterprises as they must make full upfront
payments for any nitrogen fertilisers orders and that farmers hoped for a quick
recovery of factories to be able complete the contractual obligations to supply
fertiliser in full.
Sounds like it’s still worth keeping an eye on this story.