The Latvian government has agreed to release some 200,000 mt of Russian fertilizer, produced by Russian fertilizer group Uralchem and held since March in the port of Riga, to the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) for shipment to Africa, Latvia’s TV3 has reported, without citing any sources.
The tons have been held since the European Commission in March added Dmitry Mazepin, Uralchem’s former CEO and former controlling stakeholder in LLC Uralchem Fundamental Chemical Co., to the European Union’s (EU) list of sanctioned individuals (GM March 11, p. 1).
A condition of the release was that the tons were given to the WFP as a donation, and Uralchem/Uralkali will no receive any payment.
Last month, the first shipment of Russian fertilizer left the Dutch port of Terneuzen after being stuck in EU ports since sanctions were imposed on Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine (GM Dec. 2, p. 33). The cargo, produced by Uralchem and Russian potash producer Uralkali PJSC (now owned by Uralchem) and subsequently donated for free to the UN’s WFP, comprised some 20,000 mt of NPK, and was bound for Malawi.
As of late November, some 262,000 mt of Uralchem’s fertilizers were “frozen” in EU ports in the Netherlands, Belgium, Estonia, and Latvia, according to Mazepin, as cited by a MercoPress report in late November. Other Russian producers Acron Group and EuroChem Group have 52,000 mt and almost 100,000 mt of their fertilizers, respectively, stuck in Europe, according to the Russian businessman.
The UN, in a statement cited by Agence France-Presse at the end of November, said a second shipment of Russian fertilizers stranded in an EU port was head to West Africa, and a series of shipments of fertilizer destined for a number of other countries on the African continent would follow in the coming months. It is unclear if this second shipment has left.
Other than the initial Russian fertilizer shipment heading for Malawi, the other Russian fertilizer cargoes remain stranded in ports in Belgium, Estonia, and Latvia.
A Reuters report on Dec. 15 cited Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development Rebeca Grynspan as saying the UN is now working with the World Bank and the WFP to finalize a framework for the remaining stranded Russian fertilizer cargoes to be exported to other African countries.
She said inspections have taken place, and consultations are ongoing with recipient countries.
In a related development, some 12,000 mt of Russian ammonium nitrate (AN) that had been stranded in the Estonian port of Tallinn’s Muuga Harbor since earlier this year (GM July 15, p. 29) is expected to leave the port after finding a buyer (GM Nov. 25, p. 30).
The AN tons, which are part of a total of around 80,000 mt of fertilizers, including urea and compound fertilizers, stuck in Muuga, are owned by the Swiss subsidiary of Russian fertilizer group Acron Group. The tons are stored at the AS DBT terminal, which is 100% owned by the Acron Group.
Acron was unable to sell onwards the AN or other fertilizer tons after EU sanctions were introduced following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.
According to Estonia’s ERR News, the AN tons have been sold to agro trading group Scandagra Group AB, which is jointly owned by Sweden’s largest agri cooperative, Lantmännen, and Danish cooperative DLG.