Brussels, Belgium-The European Union has lifted a tariff on Russian urea that was in place since 1995, claiming Russian urea exporters are no longer dumping their product at below fair market value and therefore no longer represent a threat to EU urea producers. The EU said Russian companies such as EuroChem and Nevinnomyssky Azot are selling their urea “significantly above” a minimum price established by the tariff, which is determined by the difference between a price floor of 115 euros/mt and the import price when it is lower. “There is no reason why the Russian exporting producers would apply lower prices if the existing measures were repealed, considering they have managed to sustain much higher prices,” the EU said in a July 23 decision. The decision represented a defeat for the European Fertilizer Manufacturers Association (EFMA), which wanted the tariff extended for another five years and argued that lifting it would lead to price-undercutting by Russian exporters. Press reports said EFMA had also wanted the duty turned into a fixed levy in euros/mt. The EU statement, however, said the financial situation of EU urea producers “overwhelmingly improved” between 2002 and 2006, and domestic producers have “not suffered any injury” from Russian exports, which continued to be dumped while being sold above the price floor. EU urea manufacturers include Grand Paroisse of France, Yara International ASA based in Oslo, SKW Stickstoffwerke Piesteritz GmbH in Germany, Fertiberia SA in Spain, Nitrogenmuvik Zrt. in Hungary, and Chemopetrol AS in the Czech Republic. According to press reports, Russian companies have 16 percent of the EU’s 1.5 billion-euro urea market.
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