EU Phosphorus Index: Q1 2026: EU phosphorus rock imports from Russia skyrocket in first quarter

Phosphorus

EU imports from Russia of phosphate rock, the raw material for the agricultural nutrient phosphorus, rose 28 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, according to a new analysis of EU Commission data by Swedish environmental company Ragn-Sells.

“While the EU works to wean itself off other Russian fertilisers, it remains more dependent than ever on Russia’s phosphate. The viable solution is to turbo-charge the harvesting of phosphorus from Europe’s own sewers and establish more circular sourcing of this indispensable nutrient, says Pär Larshans, Chief Sustainability Officer at the Ragn-Sells Group.

In the first quarter of 2026, European companies imported close to 54 million euros worth of phosphate rock from Russia, the survey shows. This represents a remarkable 28 per cent increase compared to the same three months the year before, cementing Russia’s position as the EU’s number one source despite other efforts to sever economic ties with Moscow following the invasion of Ukraine.

Phosphorus is an essential nutrient in mineral fertilisers and animal feed. Almost all phosphorus used in the EU is imported as its only phosphate mine, in Finland, supplies less than 10 percent of agricultural demand.

“With paltry access to phosphate deposits, Europe is sleepwalking into a phosphorus crisis. Recognising phosphorus as strategically important and removing barriers to recycled phosphorus is crucial for European food security, competitiveness and resilience,” Pär Larshans says.

The total value of fertiliser imports from Russia has fallen sharply in 2026. This is due to a combination of factors, primarily tariffs on mixed fertilisers from Russia and Belarus and the inclusion from January 1 of fertilisers in the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). However, as these measures specifically target nitrogen-based and mixed fertiliser products, while phosphorus remains exempt, the industry appears to have expanded its Russian phosphate purchases instead.

While Morocco remains a close second to Russia among top EU sources, Moroccan phosphate rock naturally contains higher levels of contaminants like cadmium and uranium than the Russian alternative. This makes the manufacturing of top-grade phosphorus products, suitable for animal feed and, increasingly, battery production, from Moroccan rock more expensive than using Russian raw materials.

Meanwhile, efforts to expand domestic, circular production of phosphorus from European sewage sludge are hampered by the union’s ban on recycled phosphorus in animal feed.

Modern technologies, such as Ash2Phos from Ragn-Sells subsidiary EasyMining, extract phosphorus from ash after incineration of the sludge at high temperatures, rendering negligible any biological risks that originally led to the introduction of the ban. Such high-purity products are still illegal use in feed on account of their origin in waste, not their quality.

“Europe has large quantities of phosphorus running through its sewers, and modern technology to extract it safely. Only outdated laws keep us dependent on imports. By simply updating an annex in the feed legislation, the EU could unlock significant investment, strengthen its competitiveness and reduce dependency on Russia,” says Jan Svärd, CEO of EasyMining.

Sweden has urged the EU Commission to request a new risk assessment from European Food Safety Authority as a basis for revising the feed legislation.

For further comment or interviews, please contact:
Pär Larshans, Chief Sustainability Officer, Ragn-Sells Group, +46 70 927 29 63,  par.larshans@ragnsells.com
Jan Svärd, CEO, EasyMining, +46 70 978 64 74, jan.svard@easymining.com
Debby Porter Laffitte, Press Officer, Ragn-Sells Group, +46 10 723 24 00, press@ragnsells.com

Fact box: EU import sources for phosphate rock January–March 2026
The three largest supplier countries in 2026 (according to preliminary data from 27 April):

1. Russia: €53,8 million
2. Morocco: €47,7 million
3. Egypt: €11,6 million

Source: The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI).

Fact Box: What is Phosphorus?
Phosphorus is essential for all life and plays a key role in plant growth, making it vital for both mineral fertilisers and animal feed. EasyMining’s Ash2Phos technology recovers more than 90 percent of the phosphorus from sewage sludge ash, enabling Europe to replace imported phosphorus with locally produced recycled material.
The first Ash2Phos plant is now being built in Schkopau, Germany. The product is a calcium phosphate marketed as RevoCaP. Recycled calcium phosphate has been approved for use in organic farming in the EU but remains banned in animal feed, under outdated rules introduced during the BSE crisis. Sweden has called on the EU to revise this ban. Source: Ragn-Sells

Further reading: https://www.ragnsells.com/circular-transition/think-circular/foodsecurity/