Yara rejects monopoly claims as Finland raises fertiliser cadmium limit

Finland’s temporary increase in the permitted cadmium content of fertilisers is unlikely to lower prices or immediately change Yara’s operations, Yle reports. The government introduced the measure to encourage competition in the fertiliser market.

The regulation, which came into force on Saturday, raises the maximum permitted cadmium concentration to 100 milligrams per kilogram of phosphorus for two years. Finland’s previous limit was 50 milligrams.

The government hopes the change will allow farmers to buy fertilisers more freely from abroad and push prices down. However, Yara has not promised to reduce its prices.

Norwegian company Yara produces up to 80 percent of all fertilisers used in Finland. Its dominant position means it effectively sets the price level in the Finnish fertiliser market, according to the article.

Lauri Heimala, head of Yara’s Uusikaupunki plant, said he could not say whether the company would cut prices as a result of the regulation. He said fertilisers are commodities whose prices are determined on international markets.

“The Finnish fertiliser market is also based on the European fertiliser market. Supply and demand determine the price of the product,” Heimala said.

Sebastian Hielm, a department head at Finland’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, said in an interview with STT last week that the government was seeking to end “the monopoly position of one company”. Hielm was referring to Yara.

Yara disputes the description. Heimala said several companies in Finland import and manufacture fertilisers in addition to Yara.

Yara has not decided whether to increase the cadmium content of fertilisers made for the Finnish market. Heimala said the regulation would therefore not immediately change the company’s operations, although it would give Yara more flexibility in the future.

The same 100-milligram limit is already used in Sweden and Norway. Finland has maintained a lower limit because cadmium is transferred to plants more easily in the country’s acidic soils than in many other countries.

Heimala said Yara’s NPK fertilisers, which contain nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, have less than 12 milligrams of cadmium per kilogram of phosphorus. That is well below Finland’s legal limit, even before the new regulation.

Yara’s Uusikaupunki plant exports 85 percent of its production. Products with significantly higher cadmium levels may be exported than those sold on the Finnish market.