"Achema CEO: fertiliser prices will affect agriculture more next season

With energy and fertiliser prices rising due to the war in the Middle East, the head of the country's largest gas consumer – Jonava nitrogen fertiliser plant „Achema“, says that the higher fertiliser prices will have a bigger impact on farmers in the next season.

According to Audronė Kuskytė, the majority of farmers have already prepared fertiliser for this season.

„It is now the season and most farmers are ready and have already gone out into the fields and the first fertilisation has even started. For me, the challenge with the next season seems to be bigger, because now the farmers are already doing their work," Kuskytė told reporters in Jonava on Thursday.

The farm manager said that the most important thing was to have a balance between the price of grain and fertiliser on the market.

„The most important thing is that there is a balance between the selling price of grain and the price of fertiliser. If the price of grain is very high, then the price of fertiliser may be high, but if the price of grain is low, then we („Achema“ – BNS) won't be able to sell our own products, – she explained.

The plant manager pointed out that the rise in gas prices has had a significant impact on fertiliser production costs: „The cost of gas accounts for 80 per cent of our (BNS) cost of production (fertiliser – – – BNS). Imagine that the rise in the gas price has a significant negative impact on us.“

The European natural gas futures price on Thursday stood at 49.2 euros per megawatt-hour (MWh), up 53.8 per cent (32 euros per MWh) compared to 27 February, according to „Trading Economics“.

As BNS wrote, „Achema“ suspended production of its main product, – ammonia, in May last year due to sharply fluctuating natural gas prices in Europe, before resuming it in August.

The company had thus temporarily suspended ammonia production in December and September 2022.