Azomureș may be left without competition in Romania if Niculae closes plants

Azomureș Târgu-Mureș (AZO), leader of Romania’s chemical fertiliser market, is likely to significantly boost its market share domestically if businessman Ioan Niculae, owner of Interagro, does not change his mind about closing all the chemical plants he owns in Romania.

Two Turkish-controlled firms, Eurofert Investments and Azomureș Holdings, own 76% in the company’s shares.

Until recently, Azomureș and Interagro almost equally shared 80% of the domestic fertiliser market revolving around 1 million tonnes annually, while the rest was covered by imports, particularly from Ukraine, which benefits from a low price of natural gas. The domestic fertiliser market is worth between 250 and 300m euros, taking into account an average price of 250-300 euros/tonne.

Azomureș management in early 2009 said it profited from Petrom’s closing down Doljchim Craiova chemical plant, one of its main rivals, which boosted Azomureș sales by 85% domestically, and that it would further battle with Interagro group, the second largest player on Romania’s chemical fertiliser market.