St. Petersburg – PhosAgro Group, a Russian vertically integrated company and one of the world’s largest producers of phosphate-based mineral fertilizers, and Ultramar, a Russian freight forwarder shipping mineral fertilizers in containers, signed a long-term contract at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum PhosAgro on the transhipment of PhosAgro fertilizers through a new terminal that Ultramar is building in the port of Ust-Luga. The transhipment of PhosAgro products through the Ultramar terminal will begin in mid-2021.
The agreement was signed by PhosAgro’s CEO, Andrey Guryev, and Ultramar’s CEO, Andrey Bonch-Bruevich.
In accordance with the its long-term development strategy, PhosAgro plans to increase production of fertilizers and feed phosphates to 11.5 million tonnes per year by 2025. In addition to developing its sales network in its priority market of Russia, PhosAgro will continue to expand its presence and increase the competitiveness of its products in foreign markets, both by supporting sales through high-tech transhipment facilities and by reducing transport costs.
“Momentous events in the area of logistics are becoming a tradition at the St Petersburg Economic Forum. At the 2015 Forum, PhosAgro, in partnership with Ultramar, put into operation a state-of-the-art Smart Balk Terminal, which over four years, operating under optimal conditions, has ensured the transhipment of 5 million tonnes of fertilizers”, noted PhosAgro’s Guryev. “The addition of the Ultramar terminal to PhosAgro’s logistics system in 2021 will provide the Company with additional transhipment facilities for the long term and will, by optimising the distribution of export volumes, increase PhosAgro’s shipments through Ust-Luga to 3 million tonnes annually.
“The signing of this agreement with PhosAgro Group, one of the world’s top three producers of phosphate-based fertilizers, is certainly a significant event for Ultramar LLC. Without the support of our strategic partner, this project would have been impossible. The terminal will create competitive advantages for Russian exporters in both their short- and long-term development programmes, since the technological solutions used in the design and construction of the terminal provide for projected growth in exports of Russian mineral fertilizers, also taking into account an increasing number of cargo classifications for many years to come. As a result of joint work with the Government of the Leningrad region, a unique transhipment facility is being created, the launch of which will rectify the shortage of port facilities needed to transport fertilizers through ports in the north-west [of Russia]”, said Ultramar’s Bonch-Bruevich.