The governance of nitrogen fertiliser markets in the European Union has long been shaped by a fundamental and persistent tension between the competing interests of farmers and domestic fertiliser producers. On one side, European farmers advocate for unfettered access to nitrogenous fertilisers at the lowest possible prices—inputs that are critical to their productivity and competitiveness. On the other side, EU-based fertiliser manufacturers have lobbied for trade protection to shield themselves from what they view as unfair competition—particularly low-cost imports of ammonia and nitrogen fertilisers often linked to price dumping or state subsidies in exporting countries.
This traditional conflict has become significantly more complex in recent years, as new forces reshape the political economy of fertiliser trade. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 dramatically altered global energy markets, sending natural gas prices—the main feedstock for synthetic nitrogen fertilisers—soaring across Europe. This not only undermined the cost competitiveness of EU fertiliser producers but also exposed vulnerabilities in the Union’s supply chains, especially its reliance on imports from geopolitically sensitive suppliers such as Russia (see my previous post detailing trends in import sourcing of nitrogenous fertilisers to the EU).… Read the rest
