Russia lacks capacity to ramp up fertilizer exports, industry lobby says

MOSCOW, March 26 (Reuters) - Russia does not have any free capacity to produce more fertilisers amid the global supply crunch caused by the war in Iran, the head of a lobby group for the industry was quoted by TASS news agency as saying on Thursday.

One-third of global trade in fertilisers passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which has largely been shut since the Iran conflict began. Russia, a major producer and exporter, sees supplies for the domestic market as a priority.

Andrei Guryev, head of the industry lobby and former CEO of major producer PhosAgro, said that Russian companies were receiving queries from other countries about increasing exports amid the crunch.

"In fact, the plants are currently operating at near-full capacity," Guryev said.

Russia, which controls up to 40% of the global trade in ammonium nitrate, said on Tuesday it will suspend exports of the fertilizer until April 21 to ensure sufficient supply during the spring planting season.

Russia is shipping fertilisers to its BRICS partners India and Brazil, as well as to other emerging economies, including a number of African countries, but also to the U.S. and the EU.

Official statistics showed that Russia increased fertiliser production by 4% to 5.5 million tons in February, just before Ukrainian drones hit Acron's Dorogobuzh plant in western Russia, which makes about 5% of Russian fertilisers.