Belarus this week reiterated its plans to export 8 million mt of potash this year, the state-run news agency BelTA reported, citing Belarusian First Deputy Prime Minister Nikolai Snopkov following a meeting with the country’s president on July 18.
Russian Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev reported in late June that Belarusian potash transshipment through Russian ports could increase to 8.4 million mt this year, up from 3 million mt in 2022, according to an Interfax report (GM June 23, p. 29).
According to Snopkov, as of mid-June more than 4 million mt of Belarusian potash had been transported via Russian ports since the start of 2023. Snopkov said Belarus “prioritizes potash volumes over its price,” and he believes the global potash market “is not yet [at] the price bottom.”
Snopkov told Belarusian media that state-owned potash producer Belaruskali OAO is operating “in the black” and has injected Br600 million (approximately $237 million at current exchange rates) in investments in the first six months of this year.
Belarus was forced to reorient the transshipment of its potash exports after Lithuania’s government in January 2022 terminated the railway transit contract between the country’s state-owned railway company Lietuvos Geležinkeliai’s (LTG) and Belaruskali over national security concerns (GM Jan. 14, 2022).
The Lithuanian government’s decision came in the wake of European Union and US sectoral sanctions on Belarus, which included, among other things, a ban on the trading and transit of potash. Without the Lithuanian rail route, Belaruskali was unable to export potash or NPKs via the Lithuanian port of Klaipėda, effectively blocking the producer’s key export route.
Before the imposition of Western sanctions, Belaruskali and its marketing/export arm, Belarusian Potash Co. (BPC), shipped 10-11 million mt of potash annually through Klaipėda. Since the loss of the Lithuanian rail route, Belarus has been reorienting transshipment of its potash exports via Russian ports, as well as railing increased volumes to China.
Snopkov on July 18 told local media that Belarus transported “almost 6 million mt” of cargo through Russian seaports so far this year, up from 1.5 million mt in the first half of 2022, according to BelTA. Of this year’s total, around 97% of the volume comprised chemical mineral fertilizers, oil, and petroleum products, he said.
Snopkov said work to redirect transshipment of Belarusian potash through seaports in Russia’s northwest and southern regions began in April 2022. Today, he said about 1 million mt of Belarusian products can be transshipped per month. Snopkov said Belarus shipped 2.7 million mt of potash via Saint Petersburg region ports in the first six months of 2023.
Belaruskali signed a contract in June 2022 with St. Petersburg-based operator Keystone Logistics LLC to transship 2 million mt of potash in containers via the Bronka terminal through 2023, according to Bloomberg, citing a Kommersant report (GM June 24, 2022). Belarus in March was reported to be using the Bronka terminal to transship its “main export items” (GM March 3, p. 27).
Belaruskali has also increased its exports to China by rail since sanctions were implemented. Belarus railed more than 1 million mt of potash to China in 2022, according to an Interfax report in January, citing Belarus Transport and Communications Minister Alexey Avramenko (GM Jan. 6, p. 28).