Commodity Shuttle: Brazil neglected national fertilizer policy, says industry association

Brazil has shut down some fertilizer production mines in recent years because importing was cheaper than producing.

The choices that were made in the recent past have serious consequences for the sector now, says Ricardo Tortorella, executive director of Anda (National Association for the Diffusion of Fertilizers).

The rural producer wants fertilizer on the farm at the right time, a product with quality and fair price. For him, it doesn’t matter if the product comes from the Northeast, Morocco or Argentina. Origin, however, must be a public policy concern.

“We made an unprecedented mistake, depending a lot on a fundamental input for a country that wants to be a leader in the world’s food source”, says Tortorella.

With the PNF (National Fertilizer Plan), the country has the chance to rethink the sector and reduce this strong dependence, now accelerated by geopolitical issues, says the Anda executive.

In the opinion of José Carlos Polidoro, from Embrapa Solos, Brazil has reached a perfect storm, but cannot give up fertilizers.

Without fertilization and soil correction for long periods, the consequences can be much more serious than the current remedy.

Brazilian soils, with the exception of some southern regions, are poor and need fertilizers. “Producers must cut costs, but not fertilizing the land”, says Polidoro. In his opinion, fertilizers will hardly be lacking, but at what price?

Importing fertilizers is no problem. All the world’s major grain producers import. Brazil’s problem is the quantity and import of technology. Brazilian soil is different from that of fertilizer-producing countries, according to the Embrapa researcher.

What to do now, he asks? Knowing the soil, adopting good practices and production management. Good practice is not for lack of knowledge, but of use. In addition, adopt technologies with scientific evidence. The worst thing is that we have it and we don’t use it, he says.

The record levels of grain production in Brazil occur due to soil fertilization. Area and demand, however, have increased a lot in recent years. Currently, the external dependence on nitrogen is 80%; that of phosphates, 55%; and potassium, 95%, says Tortorella.

In 2021, the industry delivered 45.9 million tons of fertilizers. Of this volume, 39.2 million were imported.

Potassium chloride imports reached 12.5 million tons, 3.4 million from Russia and 2.3 million from Belarus. This is where danger resides, due to logistics and political sanctions, says the Anda executive.

Imports have grown 43% in the last three years, and the imbalance between demand and supply drives up prices.

For Tortorella, several measures are being discussed and can alleviate the challenges of the sector. Among them, priority in landing and opening new markets.

The discussion on food security led by the UN is also important. In the punishments for Russia, care must be taken with the fertilizer sector, he says.

The executive also believes that the sector should be considered as a chain, in which transport, seeds, fertilizers and pesticides are included, in addition to an improvement in statistics.

Bruno Caligaris, director of strategic projects at the Secretariat for Strategic Affairs of the Presidency of the Republic, says that the country needs to seek a differentiated model, with the possibility of shared exploitation of fertilizers by producers, cooperatives and associations abroad.

Tortorella, from Anda, makes it clear that “the country is managing to bring in fertilizers, but not at the speed we wanted. It’s much more difficult and the yellow warning light turned on.”

Demand is not balanced and strong. Therefore, we will have high prices for a long time, as experts warn, he says.

For Polidoro, Brazil has become the key to bioinput. The country has raw materials and will assume the world leadership in this sector. In addition, it is necessary to adapt the technologies that we import to the Brazilian reality. We have technology for that.

“Brazil will be at the forefront in fertilizer innovation. We have been without direct support for research in this sector for 20 years, but universities and public and private companies have a lot of knowledge”, says Polidoro.

For Tortorella, the world will only have a solution to this problem in the medium and long term, when the offer grows a little more.

Faced with so many uncertainties at the moment, Anda’s executive recommends management, management and management. Polidoro, Tortorella and Caligaris participated in a panel on Brazilian dependence on imported inputs at the Brazilian Soy Congress, held in Foz do Iguaçu last week.