Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the impact of natural gas prices on fertiliser costs in the UK.

Due to the increase in cost of natural gas across the globe, a key feedstock for the production of nitrogen-based fertiliser products including ammonium nitrate, the cost of production of these fertiliser types has increased significantly. It has also affected Europe and the global market with some fertiliser companies halting or reducing production due to high input costs, leading to some countries such as China reducing the export of some fertiliser products to protect their domestic demands.

Britain sources fertiliser from a wide range of countries and also produces fertiliser such as ammonium nitrate domestically. CF Fertilisers continues to produce ammonium nitrate fertiliser from its plant at Billingham, although it has recently announced it will switch to imported ammonia in future, rather producing ammonia domestically. Fertiliser use is determined partly by fertiliser prices, but also by other factors such as commodity prices.

Fertiliser supply in Britain is resilient, although prices are volatile caused by fluctuating gas prices. Defra has hosted Fertiliser Taskforce meetings with key industry figures including the National Farmers Union and the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, and will continue to collaborate with industry on fertiliser price transparency. We are continuing to monitor the security and stability of fertiliser and other supply chains, work closely with colleagues across government and devolved administrations and industry figures.