Farmers come under pressure from Brussels as fertiliser prices rise

The war in the Middle East has led to a global spike in fertiliser prices, putting the European Union (EU) under pressure from farmers and some Member States to take action.

Agriculture representatives will travel to Brussels on 13 April for talks with the European Commission. Many of them complain that the conflict is jeopardising an already struggling sector, which could face an even bigger crisis.

„The situation is very difficult“, said Amaury Poncelet (Amori Poncelet), a cereal farmer from central Belgium. He noted that this winter he bought fertiliser at €380 per tonne, compared to €330 last summer. And since the conflicts in Iran, prices are going up even more," he said.

About a third of the fertiliser transported by sea enters the world market through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed in retaliation for US and Israeli strikes. This has pushed up prices. The United Nations has already expressed concern, particularly about the impact on developing countries.

In Europe, the price of nitrogen fertiliser has risen by around 20 per cent in the past month and is now approaching €500 per tonne, a double blow for farmers who are already facing higher costs because of the war in Ukraine.

Cereal farmers, who need huge amounts of the fertiliser, have been hit particularly hard, said Lucas Vernet, of the agricultural research centre „Farm Europe“.

In France alone, around 300,000 hectares of land previously used to grow cereals will be fallow or abandoned by 2022, he said.

„Strategically important“

Brussels, which has imposed heavy tariffs on fertiliser from Russia – its main producer – and plans to cut off imports by 2022 in a bid to hit Moscow's war chest, is getting more and more requests for help.

France and farmers' groups are pushing for an end to the EU's border carbon correction mechanism for fertilisers. But the European Commission, which has promised to present an action plan in May, has so far rejected the demand.

The opponents point out that the tax is aimed at carbon-intensive imports in order to level the playing field for European industries that are subject to stringent emissions rules, noting that their development is essential if Europe is to avoid a similar crisis in the future.

The crisis resulting from the Iran war „has clearly shown that maintaining strong domestic fertiliser production is a matter of strategic importance for Europe“, said industry group „Fertilizers Europe“.

A spokeswoman for the EC said that the EU executive is constantly monitoring prices and has already taken several measures to help farmers buy fertiliser at affordable prices. These include suspending customs duties on all fertiliser imports except those from Russia and Belarus and adjusting the border carbon correction mechanism to mitigate its impact, she said.

The plan, published in May, will address "structural vulnerabilities and market imbalances" and seek to promote domestic production, including low-carbon alternatives.