Belarus is inviting investors from Brazil to participate in building a new port in Russia for the transshipment of Belarusian potash, Interfax reported late last week, citing the Belarusian Ambassador to Brazil, Sergey Lukashevich, in an interview with Brazilian online news outlet GlobalFert. The interview has also been published on the website of Belarus’ Foreign Ministry.
Belarus previously has spoken about its plans to build its own port on the Russian Baltic Sea. Last month, Belarus claimed it would have its own ports on the Russian Baltic Sea in two years, according to a report by Belarusian state news agency BelTA, quoting Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko on March 5 (GM March 11, p. 31).
According to the Interfax report, citing Belarus Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko late last month, Minsk and Moscow have agreed on “a number of arrangements” for the use of Russian ports for the export of Belarusian products, including potash. Belarus earlier said it was in talks with Moscow for the use of certain Russian ports for the transhipment of Belarusian potash, and on occasion, had claimed deals had been struck (GM Feb. 18, p. 1; Feb. 11, p. 1).
Following Western sanctions on Belarus as of midnight on Jan. 31 this year, Lithuania stopped accepting Belarusian trains loaded with potash heading for the Lithuanian port of Klaipėda for export using its railways, effectively blocking the export shipment of around 90 percent of Belarusian potash (GM Jan. 14, p. 1).
Lukashevich, as cited by last week’s Interfax report, said Belarus is prepared to make “interesting offers” for Brazil’s main purchasers of potassium chloride, “which, according to Belarus’ estimates, is around 17 major companies that previously bought potash through intermediaries.
“In light of the new realities, Belarus is ready to work in an unconventional manner,” the ambassador was cited as saying. Belarus foresees changes in the methods of payment, delivery, and is prepared to offer “attractive prices,” he said.
Concerns are ratcheting up among Brazilian buyers about how potassium chloride supplies will be affected as the last of the pre-sanction cargoes from Belarus and Russia are seen docking and unloading at Brazilian ports (GM April 15, p. 15). However, sources were reporting this week that Russian potash is still in the pipeline for delivery to Brazil (see Markets).
Brazil relies on international suppliers for most of its potassium chloride requirements, and this need is increasing in line with its drive to increase agricultural output. The country historically has produced around 0.4-0.5 million mt of its own potassium chloride per year, according to Green Markets’ Potash Quarterly. Currently, there is only one producing potash mine in the country – owned by The Mosaic Co. – and the operation has only a few more years of reserves remaining. Furthermore, it is understood that Mosaic expects to close the mine in 2024.
Brazil in calendar 2021 imported 12.8 million mt of potassium chloride, up 13.7 percent on 2020’s 11 million mt, according to Trade Data Monitor (GM Jan. 14, p. 15). In 2021, Belarus and Russia between them supplied some 47 percent of the Brazilian potassium chloride import market.
In the first quarter of 2022, the two countries provided half of Brazil’s potassium chloride imports, Trade Data Monitor data showed.
Selected Brazilian Potassium Chloride Imports (million mt)
| Calendar year 2021 | Percentage of total | 1Q 2021 | Percentage of total | |
| Total imports | 12.8 | 2.5 | ||
| Belarus | 2.4 | 18.7 | 0.613 | 24.5 |
| Russia | 3.6 | 28.0 | 0.659 | 26.4 |
Amid concerns that the country will not have enough potash and other fertilizer inputs for its agriculture due to Western sanctions on Belarus and Russia, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has asked the World Trade Organization (WTO) for help, according to a Deutsche Presse-Agentur report, citing a Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement issued on April 19, following a visit to the country by WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
According to the report, Bolsonaro highlighted to the WTO Director-General the importance of trade in agricultural products and inputs such as fertilizers to ensure global food security. The president earlier highlighted Brazil’s dependence “in large parts” on fertilizers from Russia and Belarus.