Belarus is among top three suppliers of potassium chloride to Brazil

From January-March 2022, Belarus sold 612,000 tonnes of potassium chloride to Brazil – as informed by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Brazil, Sergei Lukashevich

According to the diplomat, Belarus is among the top three sellers of potash fertilisers to Brazil, which foreign trade data (Comexstat) shows that, from January-March 2022, the country bought about 612,000 tonnes of potassium chloride from Belarus, about 659,000 tonnes from Russia and 719,000 tonnes from Canada. “Like in 2021, these three countries remain leaders in supplies of potash fertilisers to Brazil,” Mr. Lukashevich noted, adding that Belarusian products are supplied on the most favourable terms.

“In 2022, the average cost of Belarusian potash fertilisers has been 60 percent lower than that from Russia and Canada. It is impossible to replace Belarusian potassium in the Brazilian market, since it makes up almost 20 percent of its share. However, on February 1st, 2022, its transit to Brazil through the traditional seaport of Klaipeda (Lithuania) was stopped by a decision of the Lithuanian government for fictitious political reasons," the diplomat explained.

According to Mr. Lukashevich, the measures against the transit of potash fertilisers from Belarus through Lithuania are not related to Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, “The sanctions are based on the non-recognition by the United States and the European Union of the Presidential elections in Belarus in August 2020 and the subsequent hostile actions of the US and the EU aimed at harming the states that depend on potash fertilisers from Belarus – such as Brazil, China, and India.”

The diplomat noted that Belarus and Brazil are considering possible ways to solve this problem. “In April 2022, a Belarusian delegation held a number of negotiations in the Brazilian government, also talking to the country’s parliamentary agricultural bloc, Confederation of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry and some others. It was noted that Brazil is interested in potash fertilisers for its agriculture at a reasonable price. Current prices on the fertiliser market – affected by difficulties with supplies to Belarus – are increasing the cost of agricultural production in Brazil due to reduced access to potash fertilisers,” Mr. Lukashevich said.