Belarusian fertilizers less competitive if shipped via Russian ports – Russian analyst

November 16, BPN. Shipments through Russian ports make Belarusian potash fertilizers less competitive, says a recent analysis by PortNews that focuses on the Russian market of sea transportation.

Belarus rerouted its potash exports from the Baltic ports to Russia after the United States imposed sanctions on its potash giant Belaruskali in February 2022.

Currently, potash exports are distributed small batches among various ports as Russia lacks the necessary facilities for handling them, the analysts noted.

Current transshipments are costly and “cannot fully replace a dedicated dry bulk terminal,” it noted. At the same time, the Murmansk port or the North-South transport corridor connecting Baltic ports with Iran and India have limited capacities, the analysts added.

Higher transportation costs are offset by high prices for fertilizers worldwide, the report noted.

On August 11, Alaksandr Łukašenka announced a plan to construct a cargo port facility in northwestern Russia. So far, there is no data on the amount of Belarus’ fertilizers handled in big bags at Bronka, neither is information about the beginning of work to build a terminal for Belorussian products, according to PortNews.

Designing and building a terminal from scratch would take years, it added.  

Apart from the Baltic region, there are plans to build a terminal at the western shore of the Kola Bay, Murmansk Region. The new terminal is to have a capacity of 5-7 million tons per year. An agreement between Belarus and the Murmansk Region was signed in September 2022.

The port of Astrakhan handles about 40,000 tons of Belarussian cargoes every month with the total amount projected to exceed 200,000 tons by the end of 2022.

“However, cargo ‘scattering’ among different Russian ports has its disadvantages. First of all, handling of fertilizers in big bags is costly and it cannot fully replace a dedicated dry bulk terminal,” the report says.

“Secondly, the logistics involving Murmansk looks, mildly speaking, bleak as compared with the Baltic states’ logistics: cargo should be first delivered to Murmansk by railway the capacity of which is limited while the transport leg is long.”