Development Trends in the Mineral Fertilizer Industry in Russia
Production of mineral fertilizers currently makes the largest contribution to the turnover of the Russian chemical industry. The industry is one of the world’s leading industries in all market segments: nitrogen, phosphate and potassium. It ranks second by the volume of production of nitrogen and potassium fertilizers (7 and 18.5% of the world total in 2014), fourth - by the volume of production of phosphate fertilizers (6.5% of the world total). At the same time, production of mineral fertilizers is one of the most export-oriented industries in Russia: the country exports up to 75% of their total production. The paper analyses the development of the mineral fertilizer industry and the activity of major enterprises producing mineral fertilizers in the country. The disastrous state of the mineral fertilizer industry under the deep crisis and the inability of private owners to manage these assets efficiently - all this has determined the need for consolidation of ownership. Russian market of mineral fertilizers is characterized by the low level of demand currently covering about 30% of output, and the low share of procurement of fertilizers by agricultural producers compared to industrial consumption. In 2014 in Russia, 40 kg of active substance were used per hectare of cultivated land, whereas this indicator in Europe and in the United States amounted to 130-140 kg/ha, in Latin America - almost 90 kg/ha. The author points out the following main factors that limit the domestic consumption market: difficulty of obtaining loans by farmers; dependence of prices on the domestic market on the dollar export contracts leading to higher prices of fertilizer under the fall of the ruble; and changes in the scheme of subsidizing agricultural enterprises. The author concludes that in order to stimulate domestic demand it is necessary, in the first place, to support agricultural producers and agribusiness development in general. The author used general scientific methods (logical and system approaches, structural-functional analysis, generalization), statistical methods (grouping, selection, comparison, and synthesis) and graphical and tabular methods of data visualization. The information base of the study includes the works of Russian and foreign scientists, practitioners and experts in the field of mineral fertilizers, the data of the Federal State Statistics Service, Federal Tax Service and annual reports of enterprises.