War in Ukraine causing higher nitrogen fertilizer prices, a crisis for Quebec

Quebec Farm. Wikimedia Commons.

MONTREAL — Management at Agro-100 have declared that the impacts of the war in Ukraine on the world’s food supply have dealt a hard hit to Quebec’s agricultural ecosystem.

“For Eastern Canada, as much as 60 per cent of the nitrogen fertilizer used in the manufacture of fertilizer blends comes from Russia and the imposition of international trade sanctions prohibiting all trade with Russia is creating a feared scarcity that could have serious impacts on our 2022 planting season,” said Agro-100 president and CEO Stephane Beaucage.

He added that the imposition of a 35 per cent import tax as a retaliatory measure by Western countries, combined with the increase of transportation costs and supply chain disruptions, could lead to an unprecedented crisis with serious consequences on the operating budgets of manufacturers and agricultural producers.

All of these impositions and their consequence have contributed to the increase in the price of fertilizer products which have doubled and even tripled in just one year, adding undue pressure on both manufacturers and users, Agro-100 has stated.

“We can easily imagine the magnitude of the phenomenon attributable to global geopolitics when we see that Russia and Ukraine together supply 30 per cent of the world’s wheat to markets,” said Beaucage.

According to Agro-100, millions of tons of grain remain stored in silos in Ukraine and Russia since the beginning of the conflict.

Agro-100 emphasized that Canada should make every effort to protect the integrity of planting season for the sake of Quebec’s food security.