The Evolution of Competition and Russia's Position in the Global Mineral Fertilizer Markets

Issue № 9, 2022, article № 11, pages 91-103

Language: Russian

Original language title: ЭВОЛЮЦИЯ КОНКУРЕНЦИИ И ПОЗИЦИЯ РОССИИ НА МИРОВЫХ РЫНКАХ МИНЕРАЛЬНЫХ УДОБРЕНИЙ

Keywords: FERTILIZER MARKET, SV MATRIX, COMPETITION

Abstract: This article is devoted to the evolution of world market of fertilizers based on data from the Trade Map portal (on the export of fertilizers by countries) from 2012 to 2020. The Lind index, Herfindahl-Hirschman index, and the SV matrix were used as methods of analysis. The analysis revealed that in all segments of the fertilizer market, competition is limited by the presence of a dominant group of big players. Relatively high-competitive segments include the animal and vegetable fertilizer market, the nitrogenous fertilizer market, and the mixed fertilizer market. The phosphatic fertilizer market is not that stable and aims for a “natural oligopoly” segment, and the low-competitive markets include the potassic fertilizer market, where Canada is the major exporter and occupies almost 40% of the world market. From the point of view of dominant groups, we can note that almost all markets are quite stable in terms of the composition of the dominant group, which remained practically unchanged over the period under review since 2012. The market of mixed fertilizers can be singled out as the most dynamic market according to this criterion, where significant changes took place during the period under review (for example, China increased its share in world exports and took 1st place in this indicator, Morocco improved its position in the market under consideration, while the share The United States fell by 2 times, which led to the withdrawal of the United States from the dominant group in the global market for mixed fertilizers). Russia is practically not represented in relatively small export markets, while in large markets it occupies a fairly significant position: the Russian Federation is in 1st place in the export of nitrogen fertilizers and consistently ranks second in the market of potash fertilizers, in the large market of mixed fertilizers, the Russian Federation is gradually losing its positions.

Authors: Vertogradov Vladimir Aleksandrovich, SHCHelokova Svetlana Viktorovna