Belarus substantially increased its exports to China by rail in 2022, which included more than 1 million mt of potash, Interfax reported on Jan. 5, citing Belarus Transport and Communications Minister Alexei Avramenko, as quoted by the BelTA state news agency.
According to the minister, Belarus sent 988 container trains to China last year, and Belarus is seeing “steady growth” in the trade.
The country plans to organize direct shipments of potash to Africa and Latin America, bypassing US and European Union traders in 2023, BelTA reported, citing Belarus First Deputy Prime Minister Nikolai Snopkov.
Belarus may also increase sales of potash on traditional markets by reducing the price, which “was rather high” in 2022, according to Snopkov. He said high prices naturally prompted the purchases, including those of potash, to decline on conventional markets – because farmers couldn’t afford it.
Snopkov sees the potash price going down, and be “more or less fair” in 2023 at about $420-$450/mt, and hence, to see the volume of sales to grow.
Belarus, the minister said, plans to bring the country’s volume of potash exports back to pre-sanctions levels in 2023.
Nutrien President and CEO Ken Seitz last month said Belarus potash exports fell at least 50% year-over-year in 2022.
Snopkov – as cited by BelTA – claims Belarus is not experiencing any problems with shipping cargoes via Russian seaports, saying the available infrastructure is sufficient.
According to Avramenko, 19 Russian ports are used for shipping Belarusian cargoes. According to the Transport and Communications Minister, in 2022 Belarus and Russia signed two basic agreements on transshipping oil products and foreign trade cargoes. The latter primarily comprise potash, nitrogen fertilizers, metallurgy products, and woodworking goods.