British food producers are facing surging prices for fertiliser, animal feed and CO2, which is used in packaging and the slaughter of livestock, as war in Ukraine disrupts exports from Russia and ramps up production costs.
Fertiliser prices are surging towards £1,000 a tonne, up from about £650 last week, linked to a surge in the price of gas – key to the production process – and panic-buying by farmers fearing the price will rise further in the coming weeks. The NFU said prices for nitrogen fertiliser were already up 200% year on year.
Farmers said they were likely to offset the price rises by buying less fertiliser than usual this season for cereal crops, potentially leading to lower production at a time when there is a threat to supplies from Ukraine, in peacetime responsible for 12% of the world’s wheat.
Surge in fertiliser prices from Russia-Ukraine war adds to pressure on UK farmers
Rising costs linked to higher gas prices mean greater risks and could lead to lower production
www.theguardian.com
While the UK produces about 40% of its own fertiliser, there are fears that plants may shut down operations as gas prices soar. That would also put a squeeze on the production of CO2 – released as a byproduct of the process – which is currently partly protected under an industry deal due to last until May.
Yara, one of the world’s biggest producers of fertiliser, which operates in 50 countries including the UK, has said it is making day-to-day evaluations on how to maintain supply and that it is too early to say if more shutdowns may be on the cards.
“Things are changing by the hour,” its boss, Svein Tore Holsether, told the BBC. “We were already in a difficult situation before the war … and now it’s additional disruption to the supply chains.”
Kallista on tuo lannoittaminen. Varmaan yhtä kallista se on Suomessakin.