Russia's January-July fertiliser exports up 7%, lobby group says

MOSCOW, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Russia's fertiliser exports for the first seven months of the year rose 7% year on year to 26.1 million metric tons, with deliveries expected to hit a record high by the end of the year, the head of an industry lobby group said on Friday.

Russia, the world's second-largest fertiliser producer behind China and the largest global exporter, expects production this year to reach a record 65 million tons from 63 million in 2024, said Andrei Guryev, head of the Russian Association of Fertilizer Producers.

Exports are forecast to increase to 44 million tons from 42 million tons in 2024, he added.

Moscow is also increasing deliveries to China, exporting 2.7 million tons in January-July, Guryev said. Last year, exports to China rose by a third to 4.7 million tons.

Guryev said Russian and Chinese companies needed to reduce settlement risks due to restrictions on using the West's SWIFT payments system. This could be done by the BRICS group of major emerging market economies building its own system, he said.

Russian fertiliser producers are expected to raise their global market share to 25% by 2030, up from 18-20%, despite an EU ban on Russian imports, as they pivot sales to BRICS nations, Guryev said in July.

The main markets for Russian products last year were Brazil, India, China and the United States. BRICS countries account for 52% of Russian fertiliser exports.