U.K. fertilizer imports will be impacted after the country’s government banned Russian ships from its ports as part of an additional raft of sanctions, including further economic sanctions, imposed against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
U.K. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps on March 1 instructed all U.K. ports from “today” to deny access “to any vessel that is flagged, registered, owned, or operated by – or connected to – Russia.”
The U.K. is the first country to make such a move, but the E.U. is considering a ban on Russian ships entering the bloc’s ports.
“By banning Russian ships from our ports, we are further isolating Russia and crushing its economic capabilities, starving Putin’s war machine,” Shapps said.
The British Ports Authority clarified that the U.K. port ban does not affect Russian seafarers on ships not connected to Russia.
The U.K. authorities will also gain new powers to detain Russian vessels, according to the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth, & Development Office and Department for Transport.
Urea and DAP supplies will be the most impacted. Russia was the source for 17 percent of the U.K.’s urea imports and 38 percent of its DAP imports last year. The U.K. imported 715,166 mt of urea and 127,323 mt of DAP in 2021, according to Trade Data Monitor.
Tim Morris, Chief Executive of the U.K. Major Ports Group, the trade association representing larger commercial ports in the U.K., said Russian trade made up only about 2-3 percent of total traffic that moves through U.K. ports, as cited by a BBC news report. However, Morris added there are some particular concentrations in trade in commodities like oil, liquefied natural gas, and some agricultural products.
According to U.K. media reports citing Shapps, the U.K. government is preparing “further detailed sanctions against Russian shipping.”