The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) believes that the European Commission’s decision in December to prolong antidumping tariffs on ammonium nitrate (AN) from Russia for another five years has contributed to the recent hike in the price of nitrogen fertilizers.
In an April 1 statement on the association’s website, IFA Farm Business and Inputs Chairperson Rose Mary McDonagh said the Commission had chosen to protect the profitability of European fertilizer producers while farmers face higher input costs.
“Irish and European farmers are paying over the odds for fertilizer. The European Commission is undermining the competitiveness of E.U. agriculture and destroying farmers’ incomes by enabling a dysfunctional fertilizer market in the E.U.,” she said.
McDonagh highlighted that in January, merchants were selling SulCAN at €205-€220/mt, while this week prices are up at €240-€270/mt.
IFA has persistently campaigned for a fairer market for fertilizers along with its colleagues in Brussels-based COPA-COGECA, Europe’s biggest interest group for European farmers, by opposing the renewal of anti-dumping measures that IFA believes “prevent the operation of a fair and transparent market.”
“Our highest cost is nitrogen, but fertilizer prices are artificially high, and farmers have no say in the matter,” she said. “The Commission has to listen to farmers and recognize the negative economic impact on the users of fertilizers.”
The E.U. last December opted to continue its quarter-century-old antidumping measures on AN originating from Russia, following a 15-month investigation launched in September 2019 (GM Dec. 18, 2020; Sept. 27, 2019). The decision to renew trade protection came despite the objections from E.U. farmers opposed to the import curbs.
The E.U. reimposed tariffs as high as €32.71/mt (approximately $38.80/mt at current exchange rates). The Commission found in favor of keeping the trade measures in place, as its probe had found there is likely continuation of dumping and injury. Under the World Trade Organization/E.U. “sunset” review rules, the measures are allowed to continue for up to another five years.
IFA President Tim Cullinan believes the extension of the antidumping measures will cost European farmers up to €3 billion in additional costs (AN and CAN fertilizer).