Spain Turns to Morocco for Fertilizers Amid Global Supply Crunch

The rise in hydrocarbon prices has led to an increase in the price of fertilizers, essential for many crops in Spain. Currently, "half of the production plants are shut down or producing less than usual," explained Agriculture Minister Luis Planas at a forum in Huesca on October 19. "The war in Ukraine, rising prices and restrictive trade policies" are behind the decrease in the supply of fertilizers," details the World Bank.

For Juan Pardo, president of the Spanish Association of Fertilizer Trade (ACEFER), "the rise in natural gas prices" has made the production process of synthetic fertilizers (the most consumed according to Eurostat) more expensive, to the point that "the price of fertilizers has increased by 110% compared to 2019," according to the latest report from the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development of the European Commission.

"The extremely high gas prices have forced the shutdown of nearly 70% of European ammonia production since August," said the European Fertilizer Manufacturers Association Fertilizers Europe. This situation can "jeopardize the availability in Europe of essential products for the agri-food sector and increase our dependence on third countries," said the president of the National Association of Fertilizer Manufacturers (ANFFE).

In 2020, Spain received 13.9% of fertilizers from Morocco, 10.7% from Belgium, 8% from Portugal and 3.7% from Russia. For now, "Spanish farmers remain cautious in planning their crops, as they do not yet know what scale [the price increase] can have, or whether they will turn to crops that require less fertilizer such as sunflowers or legumes," says an expert from the UPA technical office.