EVOLUTION OF THE SPANISH FERTILIZER MARKET - YEAR 2022/2023.
The fertilizer market in 2022/2023.
During the last agricultural campaign 2022/23, fertilizer sales have reached 3.6 million tons of product, 11.1 percent lower than the figure for the previous campaign. The consumption of nitrogen fertilizers (-5.7 percent), phosphate fertilizers (-9.8 percent), potassium fertilizers (-1 percent) and complex fertilizers (-19.2 percent) has decreased.
Expressed in terms of nutrients, sales totalled 1.3 million tonnes, down 11.5 percent compared to 2021/22, when 1.4 million tonnes of nutrients were sold.
In the 2022/23 campaign, the approximate N: P2O5: K2O ratio of nutrient consumption in Spain was 0.77: 0.26: 0.28, practically the same as the average of the last five agricultural years. That is, for every 770 tonnes of N, 260 t of P2O5 and 280 t of K2O were consumed. Spain represents approximately 9% of European fertilizer consumption and 1% of world consumption.
ANFFE is a non-profit organisation that brings together the main national producers of inorganic fertilisers and European manufacturers with commercial representation in our country. The group of companies has a production capacity in Spain of 7.7 million tonnes of products, of which:
6.4 million tons correspond to finished products (ammonium sulphate, ammonium nitrates, urea, nitrogen solutions, superphosphates, potassium chloride, ammonium phosphates, solid and liquid complex fertilizers, suspensions, special products, and organo-minerals).
1.3 million tonnes are intermediate products (nitric acid and ammonia).
References to Spanish agriculture in 2023.
The second estimate of the MAPA of the Economic Accounts of Agriculture 2023” foresees a year-on-year increase of 12.8 percent and 3,686.5 million euros in Agricultural Income in current terms, reaching 32,433.4 million and constituting a historical record. This increase has been due to the combined effect of an increase in the value of agricultural production and a decrease in the value of intermediate consumption (expenditure on inputs and services).
Crop production has fallen by 813.2 million euros, contributing 2.8 points to the decline in income, a fall caused by the poor hydrological year that has affected all dryland production and that has not been compensated by the evolution of prices. The productions most closely linked to irrigation have performed better, with production levels similar to or higher than those of the previous year and a better price level.
Cereal production has been severely affected by the intense spring drought this year, combined with a drop in prices, which has caused a 51.9 percent drop in the value of production.
Intermediate consumption has experienced a decrease of 1,454.1 million euros, caused mainly by a drop in prices, mainly of energy and fertilizers.
Among the official provisions of interest directly related to agriculture, published during 2023, the following should be noted:
Official Provisions on Agriculture published in 2023
Correction of errors in Royal Decree 1045/2022 on basic income support rights for the sustainability of the CAP. BOE 28.01.23
Correction of errors in Royal Decree 1048/2022 on the application, from 2023, of interventions in the form of direct payments and the establishment of common requirements within the framework of the CAP Strategic Plan. BOE 28.01.23
Correction of errors in Royal Decree 1054/2022 establishing and regulating the information system for agricultural and livestock farms and agricultural production, as well as the regional registry of agricultural holdings and the digital agricultural holding notebook. BOE 28.01.23
Insurable assets and yields, minimum technical conditions for cultivation, scope of application, guarantee periods, subscription dates and unit prices of citrus farm insurance, included in the Forty-Fourth Combined Agricultural Insurance Plan. BOE 21.02.23
Specific payment for cotton cultivation for the 2023/2024 and subsequent campaigns. BOE 24.02.23
Royal Decree 147/2023 establishing the rules for the application of penalties in the interventions contemplated in the CAP Strategic Plan, and modifying several royal decrees regulating different aspects related to the application of the CAP in Spain for the period 2023-2027. BOE 01.03.23
Order APA/204/2023 establishing and regulating the minimum content of the Autonomous Registry of Agricultural Holdings and the Digital Agricultural Holding Notebook and the chronology of incorporation of information sources in the Information System of Agricultural, Livestock and Agricultural Production Holdings. BOE 04.03.23
Amendment to Order APA/908/2021 defining insurable assets and yields, minimum technical cultivation conditions, scope of application, warranty periods, subscription dates and unit prices of insurance for extensive herbaceous crop farms, included in the corresponding Combined Agricultural Insurance Plan. BOE 29.03.23
Maximum budget limit of the simplified regime for small farmers. BOE 22.04.23
Reduction for 2022 of the net return indices and the general reduction applicable in the objective estimation method of personal income tax for agricultural and livestock activities affected by various exceptional circumstances. BOE 25.04.23
Royal Decree-Law 4/2023 adopting urgent measures in agricultural and water matters in response to the drought and the worsening of the conditions of the primary sector resulting from the conflict in Ukraine and weather conditions. BOE 12.05.23
Insurable goods and yields, minimum technical conditions for cultivation, scope of application, guarantee periods, subscription dates and unit prices of the insurance for open-air vegetable farms, for the autumn-winter cycle, included in the corresponding Combined Agricultural Insurance Plan. BOE 17.05.23
Technical details on the information system for agricultural, livestock and agricultural production farms, as well as the regional register of agricultural farms and the digital agricultural farm notebook. BOE 01.06.23
Implementing Regulation 2023/1072 fixing for calendar year 2023 the adjustment rate for direct payments in accordance with Regulation 2021/2116. OJ L 143 dated 02.06.23.
Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1465 providing urgent financial support to the agricultural sectors affected by specific problems affecting the economic viability of agricultural producers. OJ L 180 dated 17.07.23.
Insurable assets and yields, minimum technical conditions for cultivation, scope of application, guarantee periods, subscription dates and unit prices of olive farm insurance. BOE 26.07.23
Order APA/871/2023 determining the amounts, areas and affected crops related to direct aid to the agricultural sectors provided for in article 6 of Royal Decree-Law 4/2023, and the aid from the agricultural reserve provided for in article 198 of Royal Decree-Law 5/2023. BOE 27.07.23
Insurable assets and yields, minimum technical conditions for cultivation, scope of application, guarantee periods, subscription dates and unit prices of insurance for extensive herbaceous crop farms, included in the corresponding Combined Agricultural Insurance Plan. BOE 30.08.23
Royal Decree 665/2023, which modifies the Regulations of the Public Hydraulic Domain, approved by Royal Decree 849/1986; the Regulations of the Public Water Administration, approved by Royal Decree 927/1988; and Royal Decree 9/2005, which establishes the list of potentially soil-polluting activities and the criteria and standards for the declaration of contaminated soils. BOE 31.08.23
Announcement by the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation on the approval of the "Strategy of the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation for the fight against the high content of nitrates in the waters of the basin" (NITRACHE Strategy). BOE 01.09.23
Royal Decree 1177/2023, amending various royal decrees issued for the application of the CAP in Spain. BOE 28.12.23
Reference income for agricultural holdings for the year 2024. It is set at 34,049.72 euros. BOE 29.12.23
Approval of the forty-fifth Combined Agricultural Insurance Plan. BOE 29.12.23