PhosAgro Welcomes EU-wide Cap on Cadmium Levels in Fertilizers

OJSC PhosAgro (PHOR) 
PhosAgro Welcomes EU-wide Cap on Cadmium Levels in Fertilizers 
 
22-May-2019 / 17:19 CET/CEST 
Dissemination of a Regulatory Announcement, transmitted by EQS Group. 
The issuer / publisher is solely responsible for the content of this 
announcement. 
 
For Immediate Release   22 May 2019 
 
PhosAgro Welcomes EU-wide Cap on Cadmium Levels in Fertilizers 
 
  Moscow - PhosAgro ("the Company") (Moscow Exchange, LSE: PHOR), one of the 
 world's leading vertically-integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers, 
   welcomes the final decision taken at the level of the European Parliament 
   and the European Council to limit the sale of phosphate-based fertilizers 
containing high levels of heavy metals everywhere in the EU from 2022 and to 
    introduce voluntary green labelling for fertilizers with less than 20 mg 
                                         Cd/kg P2O5 starting this year. 
 
            This is a historic decision is aimed at improving the safety and 
 sustainability of agriculture in Europe, as well as reducing risks to human 
                                health and the environment around the world. 
 
  The decision of the European Council is the final step to establishing the 
  cadmium limit in phosphate-based fertilizers across Europe. EU-wide cap on 
                       cadmium levels will come into full effect in 3 years. 
 
   PhosAgro Board of Directors Chairman Sven Ombudstvedt said: "The decision 
       taken by the European Council is particularly important given growing 
    concern about the quality and safety of food across the world. While our 
fertilizers meet even the most stringent requirements in terms of purity, we 
  welcome this decision, since the main beneficiary of the implementation of 
 this EU initiative will be the residents of Europe, as well as consumers of 
                                         food produced in the worldwide." 
 
 PhosAgro Board of Directors Member and former UNESCO Director-General Irina 
       Bokova said: "Ensuring food security, healthy standards of living and 
   general well-being are some of the most pressing global challenges facing 
  humanity. The decision on cadmium limits is a step in the right direction. 
    Providing the world's growing population with high-quality food requires 
         responsible approach and participation by everyone, from fertilizer 
   producers and scientists to heads of states. PhosAgro, whose products are 
        used by consumers in 100 countries around the world, understands its 
       responsibility and is continuously working to create a more advanced, 
 high-quality product that meets the most stringent requirements, as well as 
                 to make greater contribution to solving global challenges." 
 
PhosAgro CEO Andrey Guryev said: "Fertilizers produced by PhosAgro naturally 
   meet even the most stringent limits under the green labelling initiative, 
        and we are pleased that our customers will soon be able to make more 
 informed choices about their crop nutrients when growing food for consumers 
                                        both in the EU and across the world. 
 
   "PhosAgro held a less than 15% share of the European market for phosphate 
    fertilizers in 2018, and the new requirements are not expected to have a 
        significant effect on our diversified sales structure in the region. 
Notably, this creates incentives for fertilizer producers all over the world 
 to continue to develop and to improve their operations in order to meet the 
           growing demand for high-quality food both in Europe and globally. 
 
   "The key element of the Company's strategy to 2025, which was approved by 
   the Board of Directors this March, is sustainable development, which also 
       implies PhosAgro's contribution to solving global issues such as food 
     security and improving the health of the global population. The company 
  welcomes the historic decision taken in Europe to limit the circulation of 
fertilizers with high cadmium content, because it creates positive long-term 
effects for the sustainability of agriculture and food producers not only in 
                                         Europe, but around the world." 
 
 A number of European countries as early as the 1980s already recognised the 
  importance of this issue and unilaterally introduced strict cadmium limits 
 for fertilizers. Limits are currently in place in 21 EU countries, with the 
  strictest in Switzerland, which limits cadmium to 21 mg / kg P2O5 in 1986, 
    Sweden (44 mg / kg P2O5), the Netherlands (31 mg / kg P2O5), Hungary and 
                   Slovakia (20 mg / kg P2O5) and Finland (22 mg / kg P2O5). 
 
The full text of the adopted regulation can be found here: 
https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/PE-76-2018-INIT/en/pdf [1] 
 
For further information please contact: 
 
PhosAgro 
Alexander Seleznev, Head of Investor Relations Department 
[phone] ext 2187 
[e-mail] 
 
Timur Belov, Press Officer 
[phone] 
 
EM 
Sam VanDerlip 
[e-mail] 
[phone] 
[phone] 
 
Dmitriy Zhadan 
 
[e-mail] 
 
[phone] 
 
[phone] 
 
About the Company 
 
PhosAgro is one of the world's leading vertically integrated phosphate-based 
fertilizer producers in terms of production volumes of phosphate-based 
fertilizers and high-grade phosphate rock with a P2O5 content of 39% and 
higher. 
 
The Company is the largest phosphate-based fertilizer producer in Europe (by 
total combined capacity for DAP/MAP/NP/NPK/NPS), the largest producer of 
high-grade phosphate rock with a P2O5 content of 39%, a top-three producer 
of MAP/DAP globally, one of the leading producers of feed phosphates (MCP) 
in Europe, and the only producer in Russia, and Russia's only producer of 
nepheline concentrate (according to the RAFP). 
 
PhosAgro's main products include phosphate rock, 39 grades of fertilizers, 
feed phosphates, ammonia, and sodium tripolyphosphate, which are used by 
customers in 100 countries spanning all of the world's inhabited continents. 
The Company's priority markets outside of Russia and the CIS are Latin 
America, Europe and Asia. 
 
PhosAgro's shares are traded on the Moscow Exchange, and Global Depositary 
Receipts (GDRs) for shares trade on the London Stock Exchange (under the 
ticker PHOR). Since 1 June 2016, the Company's GDRs have been included in 
the MSCI Russia and MSCI Emerging Markets indexes. 
 
More information about PhosAgro can be found on the website: www.phosagro.ru 
[2]. 
 
ISIN:          US71922G2093 
Category Code: MSCL 
TIDM:          PHOR 
LEI Code:      635400F8A3KGJIIBIK95 
Sequence No.:  8748 
EQS News ID:   814673 
 
End of Announcement EQS News Service 
 
 
1: https://link.cockpit.eqs.com/cgi-bin/fncls.ssp?fn=redirect&url=e88ad0e4bead1801fefd9e593f471667&application_id=814673&site_id=vwd&application_name=news 
2: https://link.cockpit.eqs.com/cgi-bin/fncls.ssp?fn=redirect&url=443ca16678306c21ad7d78a6b83a5230&application_id=814673&site_id=vwd&application_name=news 
 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 22, 2019 11:20 ET (15:20 GMT)