“The game is played now”: they warn that 40% of fertilizers still need to be imported for the fines campaign

Planting is close to the start of the fina campaign and there is uncertainty in the fertilizer companies due to the delay in importing the technology.

“Today the situation is uncertain and complex. This is day to day,” he said. Robert Roundaboutpresident of Fertilizar Asociación Civil, in the Symposium held by the technical organization in Rosario.

This Tuesday there was a meeting of the Chambers of the sector with the Government to unblock this situation given that 75% of the total used in Argentina is imported.

“Companies are re-launching the need to define product shipments these days that must arrive between now and the next few weeks. But hey, we know it’s complex, but from the chambers and the companies we’re doing the arrangements,” she remarked.

200,000 tons of fertilizers were imported between January and March, but most of it is imported between April, May and June. “The game is being played now. It is estimated that about 40% are missing for the fine campaign, ”she warned.

As regards the Swap that the Government has carried out with China, Rotondaro assured that the phytosanitary industry will mainly benefit, which imports 70% from the Asian country, but the fertilizer industry will not have an impact because only 15% is carried.

Last year, fertilizer consumption was 4.8 million tonnes, which marked a 16% setback compared to 2021. And for this cycle, an “intermediate of the last two years” is expected. More than 2022 and less than the 2021 record,” he said.

To this he added that there may be less demand for fertilizers this year because there has been a residual effect of the nutrients that were used up last year and are in the soil.

“At historical levels of the past 15 years, the input-output ratio is more favorable for both phosphorus and nitrogen this year,” he stressed.

Congress

The president of Fertilizar highlighted the number of people who came to the Fertility Symposium taking place in Rosario this Wednesday and Thursday. “Once again, producers demonstrate their interest in learning, to discover new things about soil and crop nutrition beyond the current situation, which come from a failed campaign,” he said.