Ukrainian drone attacks are having a “significant” impact on Russia’s vital nitrogen fertiliser industry, according to billionaire Andrei Melnichenko, founder of fertiliser producer EuroChem.
These strikes are exacerbating global food security concerns, already heightened by shortages and rising prices.
Russia accounts for approximately one-fifth of the global fertiliser trade, but its ability to ramp up output is constrained. Existing limitations, including restricted capacity and domestic export caps, are now compounded by the recent drone assaults on key production facilities.
This adds to global pressures, such as the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial conduit for about a third of global fertiliser trade.
Speaking at a conference in Moscow, Mr Melnichenko told reporters: “Well-known events occurring on our country’s territory are leading to increased drone attacks on Russian (fertiliser) enterprises,” adding that the impact was “significant enough”.
A notable incident occurred on 25 February, when a Ukrainian drone attack on Dorogobuzh, one of Russia’s largest fertiliser plants owned by major producer Acron, resulted in seven fatalities.
This strike has temporarily reduced Russia’s overall production capacity by approximately five per cent.
The Dorogobuzh plant is responsible for 11 per cent of Russia’s ammonium nitrate output and nine per cent of its NPK fertiliser production, a blend of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Operations at the facility are anticipated to resume in May.
Several other attacks have taken place in towns where major fertiliser plants are located.
Melnichenko said that although prices for all three major types of fertilisers had risen, in his view the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has had no impact on the trade in potash, while disruption to phosphate trading was temporary as Middle East producers switch to ports outside the Gulf.
This, he estimated, would happen more quickly than the six months Russian fertiliser producers needed to switch from European to local ports after Western sanctions were imposed.
Melnichenko said that production of nitrogen fertilisers from natural gas had suffered the most since a large share is produced from gas extracted from deposits around the Gulf.
Russia, which controls up to 40 per cent of the global trade in ammonium nitrate, said on 21 March that it would stop exports of the fertiliser for one month.
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