Romania imported over two million tonnes of natural and chemical fertilizers in the first ten months of 2024, at a total cost of nearly €737 million — approximately €370 per tonne. Domestic fertilizer exports were ten times lower: 205,000 tonnes. This massive import dependence in a critical sector of agricultural production is a structural vulnerability that Romanian farmers feel directly in their production costs, especially after the price surge of 2022–2023.

The source of imports further complicates the picture. Of the two million tonnes imported, more than 317,000 tonnes — or 16% — came from the Russian Federation, with imports of Russian fertilizers increasing by 16.5% in the first ten months of 2024 compared to the same period of the previous year. Azerbaijan, Belarus, and Georgia complete the list of main external suppliers. The irony is that Romania imports fertilizers produced with Russian gas precisely at a time when Europe is trying to reduce its energy dependence on Moscow. At the beginning of 2025, the European Commission announced higher import tariffs on nitrogen-based fertilizers from Russia and Belarus — a measure that will increase input costs for Romanian farmers in 2025–2026.

The largest domestic producer of chemical fertilizers, Azomureș, has not been operating at full capacity for at least two years. Dependence on natural gas prices and competition from cheaper imports outside the EU have kept domestic production below its potential. The president of the ProAgro Federation, Ionel Arion, warned that the fertilizer market has been practically taken over by products from outside the European Union — a situation with direct implications for the country’s long-term food security.

In 2024, fertilizer prices fell by 35.5% compared to the peak of 2022–2023, contributing to a 7.4% increase in usage volumes. However, this temporary improvement does not solve the structural problem: Romania still lacks a coherent strategy to reduce dependence on imported fertilizers, whether through domestic production, regenerative agriculture, or optimization of application through precision technologies. A farmer spending €370 per tonne on fertilizer imported from a country with which the EU has geopolitical tensions is not just managing a cost — but managing a risk.

(Photo: Magnific)