Last year the income of “Achema” decreased by 55 percent

In accordance with the audited data, in 2023 the sales income of the biggest nitrogen fertilizer and other chemical product manufacturer in the Baltic states AB “Achema” amounted to 423.6 million EUR and were 55 percent smaller in comparison to 2022, when they amounted to 937.2 million EUR.

According to Audronė Kuskytė, the General Manager of company “Achema”, such changes were caused by the energy crisis that aggravated the industrial performance of the EU in 2022, which also occurred as an outcome of the Russian war against Ukraine, as well as rapid and unpredictable changes in the raw material prices.

“Company “Achema”, just like any other EU company that is high on energy (gas, electricity) consumption, faced changes in the energy market that could not be forecasted. Manufacturers of the fertilizers from the countries controlling the natural gas resources were able to overflow the EU fertilizer market with significantly cheaper production, therefore, most of the manufacturers in the EU were forced to freeze the production,” summarised the General Manager of the Company A. Kuskytė.

Even though the scope of sales remained the same as in 2022 and amounted to 1.4 million tons, “Achema” ended year 2023 with a net loss of 47 million EUR.

“During the last years, when the import of fertilizers from the third countries increased significantly, it becomes more and more difficult to remain competitive. USA, Egypt, Russia and Turkey are the main countries exporting fertilizers to Europe. The price of the main raw material – natural gas – in these countries is significantly lower. Moreover, the manufacturers do not incur the cost of emission permits, whereas the European fertilizer industry is increasingly influenced by emission reduction and other green course requirements,” highlighted A. Kuskytė.

According to the data provided by “Eurostat”, the import of nitrogen fertilizers to the EU countries in 2023 amounted to 9.87 million tons, whereas in 2022 it grew to 11.39 million tons, which is 33 and 53 percent respectively more than the average import numbers of these fertilizers in 2019-2021. The import of nitrogen fertilizers from Egypt to the EU countries in 2023 increased by 42 percent in comparison to 2020, while TOP 5 countries that imported the biggest amount of nitrogen fertilizers to the EU in 2023 increased the import of these fertilizers by 75 percent in comparison to 2020. It should be noted that in 2023 the biggest amount of nitrogen fertilizers imported to the EU came from the Russian Federation (2.3 million tons), consequently, the import from this country was 45 percent higher in comparison to 2020.

In 2023 in the French and German markets that are usual for “Achema” the import of nitrogen fertilizers from the third countries increased by 38 and 459 percent respectfully in comparison to 2020.

In 2022 “Achema” terminated the purchase of the main raw material – natural gas – rom the Russian Federation and currently the company purchases the entire necessary amount of natural gas from the Norwegian, American, British, Polish and German suppliers.

Last year “Achema” maintained the wide range of geographical markets, by exporting the production to 38 countries. The main export destinations remained the same: France, Great Britain, Germany, Middle European and Scandinavian countries. Such countries as Saudi Arabia and Cambodia were added to the list of new markets last year.

Even during this complicated period, the company kept consistently investing into updating the production, energy resource and environmental impact reduction projects, modernisation of the energy system. Last year the total sum of investments amounted to 7.5 million EUR, the same directions of investments are being further developed this year.

During the last year the company paid 53.4 million EUR to the state budget in total, 7.7 million EUR of that amount were the contributions to “Sodra”.