Business news

MINSK, 13 April (BelTA) – The Belarusian potash manufacturer Belaruskali intends to start making a new kind of fertilizers using Chinese technologies, BelTA learned from Ivan Golovaty, Belaruskali Director General, member of the International Affairs and National Security Commission of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus.

The executive said that Belaruskali is considering a number of investment projects involving a Chinese chemical company for the sake of diversifying its manufacturing and building a new enterprise using Chinese technologies. He specified that negotiations are underway to create a new kind of products based on Belaruskali’s potash fertilizers. A similar project has been implemented in China. There is nothing like that in Belarus for now but such an enterprise is expected to be established within two years.

A Chinese parliament delegation led by Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Zhang Dejiang will visit Belarus on 16-18 April. Speaking about expectations from the visit, the senator said he was confident that it will allow analyzing accomplishments of Belarusian-Chinese cooperation in addition to setting new goals. Ivan Golovaty is convinced that interregional cooperation has a lot of promise. Members of the parliaments can assist with developing interregional cooperation by becoming kind of mediators between specific companies and regions of the two countries. Interaction between the parliaments is meant, among other things, to create a platform, a foundation for future agreements between them.

China is a major buyer of Belarusian potassium and imports 1.5-2 million tonnes of fertilizers every year. According to Ivan Golovaty, it is difficult to talk about this year’s volume of deliveries for now because negotiations with a consortium of Chinese companies (Sinochem, CNAMPGC, CNOOC) are still in progress. The senator reminded that in 2016 negotiations of potash manufacturers on long-term contracts with China and India lasted till July. However, the final price exceeded expectations. It allowed stabilizing the situation on other markets, including spot markets. “The current situation on the potash market is slightly different. Virtually all the producers take no more contracts for the first half of the year. Demand is on the rise in comparison with last year,” stated the Belaruskali director general.