Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 19 January 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Cost and Supply of Fertiliser in the European Union: Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development

Mr. Fabien Santini:

On the cost of fertiliser, the main answer for the moment is that the cost of fertiliser is heavily linked - particularly for nitrogen fertilisers, which are the only examples the Deputy mentioned - and strongly related to the energy markets and the natural gas price. By the way, the Deputy mentioned in his opening statement that the gas price has increased less than fertiliser. That is not correct. The gas price in Europe has increased more than the price of fertiliser so far. That is just a correction. Compared with the situation in the US, I can understand his mistake. However, as the Deputy knows, but natural gas is a commodity that has very different prices. It is not easy to transport. A pipeline - a gazoduc; I do not know that in English - is needed to transport liquid gas. We have a situation where the price of natural gas in the US is much lower. It has increased also but it much lower than the price in Europe. A differential that can explain that.

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