Anwil SA, a unit of Poland’s biggest oil refiner, PKN Orlen SA, has restarted fertilizer production “despite difficult macroeconomic conditions” in order “to guarantee food security” in the country, the company said in an Aug. 29 company filing. Anwil had temporarily suspended fertilizer production on Aug. 23 due to the unprecedented increase of natural gas prices in Europe (GM Aug. 26, p. 1).
The Polish fertilizer producer said the price of its fertilizers once production resumes will reflect the current price of natural gas and market conditions.
Following Anwil’s fertilizer production halt and that of fellow fertilizer producer Grupa Azoty SA and two of Azoty’s subsidiary companies – Grupa Azoty Puławy, Grupa Azoty ZAK – on Aug. 22 amid soaring gas prices, Poland’s food sector warned the shortage of fertilizer production byproducts, including CO2, could put the country’s food security at risk as a number of food processing plants would be forced to suspend production.
Grupa Azoty said on Aug. 29 despite the temporary production cuts at three of the group’s companies, the group was continuing to provide CO2 supplies to its existing customers. Azoty said the reduction in fertilizer production was planned “so as to ensure the availability of sensitive products, including liquid CO2, dry ice, and aqua ammonia,” which it said was necessary for the operation of the commercial power industry.
In addition to CO2 inventories held in company storage facilities, Azoty said the group continues to produce and supply CO2 to its customers on an ongoing basis.
Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Agriculture, and Rural Development, Henryk Kowalczyk, on Aug. 29 said the country will ensure its farmers have access to fertilizers at “moderate” prices, according to a PAP news report. But he said these prices will not be at last year’s levels as “there is no going back to that level.”
Poland’s cabinet is working on a mechanism to shield the country’s farmers against the higher cost of fertilizers, Bloomberg reported on Aug. 30, citing Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Jakub Morawiecki, who was speaking at a press conference in Warsaw.
The Polish government is seeking measures that will not boost the profit of “foreign companies,” and “finding such solutions requires more time,” according to the report.