OSLO
\nRussia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine will deliver a catastrophic hit to global food supplies, the head of Norwegian fertilizer maker Yara International has said.
\nSvein Tore Holsether, chief executive officer (CEO) of Yara, which operates in more than 60 countries and buys essential raw materials from Russia, said the international community must reduce its dependence on the Russians for food and described the war as a catastrophe on top of a catastrophe, The National reported on Monday.
\nWith the global food supply chain already vulnerable to shocks, the war will increase food insecurity in poorer countries, Holsether said. He spoke of an additional 100 million people suffering from hunger over the past two years. The cost of fertilizer had already been high amid soaring wholesale gas prices but that situation will only worsen, he said.
\n\u201cWe were already in a difficult situation before the war \u2026 and now it\u2019s additional disruption to the supply chain and we\u2019re getting close to the most important part of this season for the Northern Hemisphere, where a lot of fertilizer needs to move on and that will quite likely be impacted,\u201d Holsether said.
\nUkraine and Russia are major exporters of some of the world\u2019s most basic foodstuffs, together accounting for about 29 percent of global wheat exports, 19 percent of world corn supplies and 80 percent of sunflower oil exports. But Russia also exports crop nutrients as well as natural gas, which is critical for producing nitrogen-based fertilizers.
\nIn total, 25 percent of the European supply of nitrogen, potash and phosphate \u2013 vital ingredients in fertilizers, which enable plants and crops to grow \u2013 comes from Russia.
\n\u201cWith the geopolitical conditions out of balance, the biggest sources of raw material to Europe\u2019s food production are being subject to limitations and there are no short-term alternatives,\u201d Yara International said.
\nWith half of the world\u2019s population getting food \u201cas a result of fertilisers\u201d, Holsether said if that product was removed from the field, agricultural yield would drop by 50 percent. \u201cIt\u2019s not whether we are moving into a global food crisis, it\u2019s how large the crisis will be,\u201d he said.
\nThe Norwegian company, which is one of the world\u2019s biggest fertilizer producers, supplies Ukraine\u2019s agricultural sector and is a big buyer of raw materials, such as phosphate and potash, from Russia, which also supplies Europe\u2019s nitrogen fertiliser plants with natural gas.
\nSanctions against Russia are already affecting Yara\u2019s operations, with the company finding it harder to secure deliveries due to shipping industry disruption.
\nThe Russian government has urged its producers to stop fertilizer exports, adding another layer of jeopardy to the global food supply.
\nNatural gas is vital for global agriculture as it is used to produce ammonia \u2013 another key ingredient in nitrogen fertiliser \u2013 and Yara has long been importing Russian gas to its European plants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
OSLO Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine will deliver a catastrophic hit to global food supplies, the head of Norwegian fertilizer maker Yara International has said. Svein Tore Holsether, chief executive officer (CEO) of Yara, which operates in more than 60 countries and buys essential raw materials from Russia, said the international community must reduce its dependence […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-248267","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n