Russia’s Agriculture Ministry has drawn up a draft government decree that proposes the Ministry of Industry and Trade sign agreements with the country’s mineral fertilizer producers and suppliers in order to reduce and maintain prices for mineral fertilizers for domestic agricultural consumers, according to an Interfax report this week, citing the Ag ministry’s document.
The decree is proposed to enter into force from the day of its signing and will apply until July 1, 2021, to cover the spring sowing season.
Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev earlier this month proposed a freezing of prices of the main domestic mineral fertilizer products for two-to-three months for the domestic spring sowing season (GM March 12, p. 12). According to the report, the move is prompted by price hikes for certain types of fertilizers, and are a growing concern for Russia’s farmers.
Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) last month was prompted to initiate an investigation into the grounds for pricing of mineral fertilizers to the domestic market (GM March 5, p. 31; Feb. 26, p. 37). FAS is still to report on its findings.
However, the country’s mineral fertilizer producers believe the existing measures in place providing for a pricing methodology from the FAS for domestic mineral fertilizer pricing and the accessibility of fertilizers on the domestic market is sufficient, according to this week’s news report.
According to the Russian Association of Fertilizer Producers (RAFP), current mineral fertilizer prices for the domestic market are up to 20-30 percent below the export price.