Belarus’ OJSC Gomel Chemical Plant since the imposition of Western sanctions has been refocusing its exports to Russia, China, and Libya, according to an Interfax report, citing the Gomel Chemical Plant Director Dmitry Chernyakov in an interview with the corporate newspaper of the holding company, Belneftekhim Holding.
Belarus’ Deputy Prime Minister Piotr Parkhomchik last month touted the company’s success in “re-orienting” its exports of “complex fertilizers” to Russia, and having taken measures to produce new brands that are not subject to Western sanctions, as well as Gomel starting deliveries for the first time of phosphate fertilizers to Russia (GM Dec. 9, 2022).
According to the Chernyakov, the company is currently exporting approximately 360,000 mt to 430,000 mt of product annually, adding that exports to Russia are in cooperation with Russia’s largest distributor of mineral fertilizers. He did not name the distributor, but said Gomel Chemical Plant’s products complement the product mix of the Russian partner.
As cited by the report, the Gomel Chemical Plant sold more than 200,000 mt of NPK fertilizers over six months. Chernyakov highlighted the plant had kept its presence in the European NPK fertilizer market, “despite difficulties with payments.” He said the company had had to make a change to its NPK fertilizer production line to remove the potash content covered by sanctions for product sold on European Union markets.
He also highlighted the plant’s success in opening a new market for its products – Libya. At the same time, he noted deliveries of its mineral fertilizer products to Asia and South America make losses for the company due to “significant” delivery costs.
The Gomel Chemical Plant is Belarus’ largest producer of phosphate fertilizers, as well as having the capacity to produce complex fertilizers, ammophos, superphosphate, and NPK fertilizers of various grades, according to its website. The company’s nameplate production capacity included 1.1 million mt/y of DAP/MAP, according to Green Markets database.