PhosAgro to increase exports to Africa by 15%-20% in 2023

ST. PETERSBURG. July 27 (Interfax) - PhosAgro plans to increase fertilizer exports to Africa by 15%-20% this year, the Russian fertilizer producer's deputy CEO for sales, marketing and logistics, Mikhail Sterkin told reporters.

PhosAgro accounted for 540,000 tonnes of the 1.6 million tonnes of fertilizer that Russia exported to Africa in 2022, he said. In the next five years, PhosAgro intends to increase exports to Africa to 1 million tonnes, Sterkin recalled.

PhosAgro is Russia's leading fertilizer exporter to Africa, accounting for about 30% of the country's exports to this region. EuroChem accounts for 25%, UralChem-Uralkali accounts for 24% and Acron accounts for 12%.

PhosAgro currently exports fertilizer to 21 countries in Africa and it plans to expand the geography of these exports, Sterkin said. The company's largest markets in the region are South Africa, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Mozambique and Tanzania.

The most popular types of fertilizer in Africa are ammonium nitrate, urea, MAP and NPK fertilizer, Sterkin said.

He also said that PhosAgro has developed a pilot training platform for African farmers and plans to look for partners to roll it out.

"In order to sell mineral fertilizers in Africa, training farmers is, of course, necessary. The program that we're now making will enable a farmer to comprehensively get a more successful harvest than they can now. Our program is not just about mineral fertilizers, but also about the application of crop protection agents, seeds, better growth stimulus practices. Africa has fairly small farms and probably not everyone has the time to learn this comprehensively. Our program is devoted specifically to this," Sterkin said.