NUCLEAR POWER IN BELARUS AND WORLDWIDE
Recently, US lawmakers have introduced a bill in the United States House of Representatives to make Belaruskali and its trading arm Belarusian Potash Company subject to sanctions. The Wall Street Journal quotes Representative Steve Pearce as saying, “This bill is the first step in ensuring that countries that are subject to U.S. sanctions are held accountable for their actions, and are not able to sidestep sanctions by simply changing a name.” Republican Pearce believes that the bill would reinstate sanctions evaded by the Belarusian producer through disassociation from Belneftekhim in the winter of last year. BPC spokeswoman Irina Savchenko made an official comment on these developments.
She says BPC didn’t expect its competitors to resort to political leverage as a solution to market issues. The company is interested, above all else, in free trade and healthy competition everywhere, including on the US market.
Irina Savchenko thinks the behaviour of the Representatives of the Southern states who introduced this legislation to the US House of Representatives is driven by other producers’ lobbying efforts. Belarusian Potash Company is aware that in the first half of 2015, Intrepid Potash, who has potash operations in New Mexico, paid $700,000 to Hogan Lovells LLP for lobbying its interests in the US Congress.
The US market imports fertilizers from almost every producer – from Canada, Israel, Russia, and Belarus. Belarusian potash which is naturally red in color is popular among farmers of both South and North America, and other markets as well. This is evidenced by the Company data.
The Company believes that buyers should be able to make their own choices about suppliers. Meanwhile, latest data of the International Plant Nutrition Institute reveal that soil nutrient removal rates across the United States continue to outpace fertilizer application in most states, with more soils falling below the critical level for potassium. Potash application rates in North America have been relatively stable over the past 30 years while farmers have added more than 160 million acres over the past 10 years, an area similar to that of the US corn and soybean crop.
According to the Market Overview released by PotashCorp on July 17, since 2010, estimated potash removal from US soils has exceeded application by over 6 million tons of potash per year. Relatively large potash application deficits were found in most major crop producing regions of the US with the most severe deficit in the Central Plains. “Closing the gap would require farmers to nearly double application rates compared to current levels”, said PotashCorp, according to Irina Savchenko. This means the US market has significant potential leaving enough room for ‘mutually respecting coexistence’ of potash suppliers, she said.
The Press Secretary notes, however, that not all US producers are overreacting to the presence of Belarusian supplier as much as Intrepid Potash (1.2 million tons of annual production in 2014). James Prokopanko, CEO of Mosaic (11.5 million tons of production in 2014), at the recent Mosaic conference call answered a question from analysts on Belarusian imports to the US market, “We’re absolutely a believer in free trade. We don’t begrudge anyone that.”
She says BPC didn’t expect its competitors to resort to political leverage as a solution to market issues. The company is interested, above all else, in free trade and healthy competition everywhere, including on the US market.
Irina Savchenko thinks the behaviour of the Representatives of the Southern states who introduced this legislation to the US House of Representatives is driven by other producers’ lobbying efforts. Belarusian Potash Company is aware that in the first half of 2015, Intrepid Potash, who has potash operations in New Mexico, paid $700,000 to Hogan Lovells LLP for lobbying its interests in the US Congress.
The US market imports fertilizers from almost every producer – from Canada, Israel, Russia, and Belarus. Belarusian potash which is naturally red in color is popular among farmers of both South and North America, and other markets as well. This is evidenced by the Company data.
The Company believes that buyers should be able to make their own choices about suppliers. Meanwhile, latest data of the International Plant Nutrition Institute reveal that soil nutrient removal rates across the United States continue to outpace fertilizer application in most states, with more soils falling below the critical level for potassium. Potash application rates in North America have been relatively stable over the past 30 years while farmers have added more than 160 million acres over the past 10 years, an area similar to that of the US corn and soybean crop.
According to the Market Overview released by PotashCorp on July 17, since 2010, estimated potash removal from US soils has exceeded application by over 6 million tons of potash per year. Relatively large potash application deficits were found in most major crop producing regions of the US with the most severe deficit in the Central Plains. “Closing the gap would require farmers to nearly double application rates compared to current levels”, said PotashCorp, according to Irina Savchenko. This means the US market has significant potential leaving enough room for ‘mutually respecting coexistence’ of potash suppliers, she said.
The Press Secretary notes, however, that not all US producers are overreacting to the presence of Belarusian supplier as much as Intrepid Potash (1.2 million tons of annual production in 2014). James Prokopanko, CEO of Mosaic (11.5 million tons of production in 2014), at the recent Mosaic conference call answered a question from analysts on Belarusian imports to the US market, “We’re absolutely a believer in free trade. We don’t begrudge anyone that.”
