EU Bans High-Cadmium Fertilizers, Impacting Moroccan Exports

Cadmium can contaminate food, which is why the EU has implemented restrictions since July on the export of fertilizers containing this heavy metal. This measure comes at a particular time when the sector is facing production problems and sustainability requirements, denounce sources from the Spanish Commercial Association of Fertilizers (ACEFER) to Efeagro.

The global fertilizer market has recently been shaken by the war in Ukraine, due to the increase in gas prices and the difficulty for Russia to sell its low-cadmium phosphate fertilizers, unlike fertilizers from Morocco, Algeria, Egypt and Israel, whose content is generally higher, according to the National Association of Fertilizer Manufacturers (ANFFE).

This current restriction on fertilizer imports risks causing supply shortages in the EU and negatively impacting food security, warns ANFFE, stressing that the new measure induces higher costs, which could jeopardize the viability of some fertilizer plants, while alternative products such as manure, compost or sewage sludge "can contain significant amounts of cadmium and other contaminants".

"When fertilizers containing certain levels of cadmium are used, they accumulate like any other metal. Cadmium, depending on soil conditions, can be absorbed by cultivated plants," explains Luis Hernández, the coordinator of the Resisplanta research group at the Autonomous University of Madrid, stressing that cadmium can affect soil fertility in the long term.