Belaruskali to increase exports to Brazil via new terminals

– Construction of port terminals in Brazil will allow Belaruskali to increase the export of potash fertilizers to this promising region, Director General of the company Valery Kiriyenko told reporters on 19 August, BelTA has learnt.

Belaruskali views Brazil and other Latin American countries as a very promising sales market. Brazil alone is going to increase grain production several times; therefore, the country is going to need more potash fertilizers. African countries are building up agricultural production too, and are also viewed as a promising export destination.

According to Valery Kiriyenko, the construction of own terminals in Brazil will enable Belaruskali to speed up cargo handling at ports. At present, ships carrying Belarus-made potash fertilizers sometimes have to wait over 1.5 months to get discharged. The Belarusian company has plans to build six warehouses and other port infrastructure facilities.

Such facilities will ensure uninterrupted supplies of Belaruskali fertilizers. Valery Kiriyenko noted that Belaruskali purchased 30% of the Klaipeda port shares, thus getting access to the port management. Had the company not done that, the former Russian partners could have easily blocked Belarusian shipments through this port, which is the most cost-effective Baltic port from the logistic point of view. According to Valery Kiriyenko, the Russian partners undertook some ill-favored moves, like simultaneous dismissal and transfer to Moscow of all Uralkali managers working in the Belarusian Potash Company. More than that, on behalf of the Belarusian Potash Company and without Belaruskali’s consent they sent letters asking to annul several supply contracts and did other similar things. The Belaruskali Director General believes that these actions should get legal evaluation.

Valery Kiriyenko said that cooperation with Uralkali might be resumed, but not with the existing top executives of this Russian company. They now have to travel around and apologize for the mess they made. “We do not have to travel around; customers come to us, express their support and intentions to maintain cooperation,” Valery Kiriyenko said.

He noted that the Belaruskali team treats this difficult situation patiently. Valery Kiriyenko compared the recent events with the events that took place in 2009 when the global financial and economic crisis stripped customers of funds to buy Belarusian fertilizers. Back then, the Belarusian manufacturer acted graciously and the market revived little by little. He described the current situation on the market as a dead season that is going to come to an end.

Valery Kiriyenko added that Belaruskali is strongly determined to carry on the projects to upgrade existing facilities and build up new capacities, in particular, on the basis of the Petrikov deposit. In his words, Belaruskali will keep doing its utmost to improve the product quality and other important product properties.