Following the war started by Russia in Ukraine and the imposition of sanctions, mineral fertilisers are no longer available, and the dependency on cheap imports from neighbouring countries is proving to have severe consequences for everyone.

EU manufacturers could theoretically produce a similar amount of mineral fertiliser, but the stumbling block is the availability of the necessary raw materials, while reorienting towards other suppliers is a long and complex process due to the EU's own regulations.

Meanwhile, in third countries not bound by sanctions, mineral fertilisers are available for a song, and ships from Russian ports are freely heading to Brazil with potassium chloride to treat soy and maize fields, notes Ģirts Cēlājs, whose company, the joint-stock company Fertilizer Group, is involved in mineral fertiliser production. (...)