Ukraine war will be 'catastrophic' for global food, says fertiliser giant

The war in Ukraine will cause a “catastrophic” shock to the supply chain and the cost of food, said Svein Tore Holsether, head of one of the world’s biggest fertiliser companies.

“Half of the world’s population gets their food from fertiliser, and if that is taken out of some crops, that production could drop by up to 50%,” said Holsether, of Yara International, a Norway-based company that operates in more than 60 countries and buys considerable amounts of raw material from Russia. “For me, it’s not a question of whether or not we’re going to get into a global food crisis, but how big that crisis will be.”

According to him, even before the war in Ukraine the price of fertilisers was already high because of the increase in the price of natural gas. “Now the scenario has been changing all the time,” Mr Holsether said.

“We were already in a difficult situation before the war, and now there is this supply chain disruption as we approach the most important period of the season for the northern hemisphere, which is when a lot of fertiliser needs to be transported and that is likely to be impacted.”

Russia and Ukraine are among the world’s leading producers in the agricultural sector. Russia also produces huge amounts of nutrients such as potash and phosphate, which are essential ingredients for fertilisers (used to grow crops).