Investment case and credit ratings
1 A global producer of high-quality phosphate-based fertilizers
of phosphate-based fertilizersBy total production capacity for DAP/MAP/NP/NPK/NPS. and a top 5 global producer of DAP/MAPMonoammonium phosphate / diammonium phosphate by capacity.
A netback-driven sales model with a global presence.
for compliance with international standards testifies to the highest quality of our products and management efficiency throughout their life cycle:
are compliant with Regulation (EC) No. 1907/2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH). The Company is also taking all necessary steps to keep the registrations in line with new requirements. One of our achievements in 2022 is the certification of fertilizers in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 of the European Parliament and of the Council, which sets out the rules for accessing the EU fertilizer market.
PhosAgro has an Industry Stewardship Champion status assigned by the International Fertilizer Association (IFA). It is attached to companies that have been certified to meet the Protect & Sustain standard and actively participate in IFA research on safety, environment, energy efficiency and CO2 emissions.
meet the highest global standards.
2 Unique resource base and sector-leading margins
The mine life, including off-balance reserves, is estimated at around 60 years.
Thanks to its magmatic origin, phosphate rock mined on the Kola Peninsula boasts exceptional purity.
Our in-house R&D function and cooperation with Russian and international R&D centres enables us to develop and launch new fertilizer grades in a prompt manner in order to deliver the crop nutrient solutions our customers need.
in major inputs:
- 100% in phosphate rock,
- 76% in ammonia,
- 92% in sulphuric acid
in the phosphate segment
and one of the leading European producers of monocalcium phosphate feed grade and the NP 11-37 liquid complex fertilizer
in the production of major types of fertilizers by profitability
PhosAgro topped Expert RA’s ranking with its highest ESG transparency level among Russian chemical companies
3 Eco-efficient fertilizers
PhosAgro was the first Russian company to be certified to GOST R 58658–2019, a national standard for products with improved characteristics which introduced the world’s most rigorous limits on heavy metals and arsenic content. This allows PhosAgro to mark its products with a special Green One label.
The Company also successfully completed voluntary Vitality Leaf certification. This ISO 14024-compliant framework was designed to assess a product’s environmental safety throughout its lifecycle, including mining and processing of raw materials, their delivery to the plant, storage, transportation and use of finished products, and packaging recycling.
Additionally, PhosAgro made a Green Label environmental claim asserting that the product is free from dangerous cadmium concentrations harmful to human health and soils.
In December 2022, the Group’s Cherepovets, Volkhov and Balakovo production sites and phosphate rock mining and beneficiation facility in Kirovsk successfully passed a certification audit by the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards (ABNT).
The Group’s product packaging also has a pictogram from the EU regulations, which is used to inform consumers of safe fertilizers in terms of heavy metals content with cadmium content not exceeding 20 mg/kg P2O5.
4 Sound capital allocation in highly effective investment projects
Investment projects may get a go-ahead subject to their high, compliance with the BAT and sustainability criteria along with the CAPEX/EBITDA target, and a comfortable net debt / EBITDA covenant headroom.
5 Well-balanced corporate governance
In March 2022, in the wake of sanctions against Russia, the international rating agencies Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch withdrew both the sovereign credit ratings and the credit ratings of all Russian corporate issuers, including PhosAgro. This move was not related to a change in the creditworthiness of the companies and had no impact on PhosAgro’s ability to service its bank and public debt. At the time of the withdrawal, PhosAgro’s credit ratings were as follows: Standard & Poor’s – BBB-, Moody’s – Baa3, Fitch – BBB-.
Throughout 2022, the Company continued to service its bank loans in a timely manner and took a number of steps to continue servicing Eurobonds in the new regulatory environment. Thus, the Company once again confirmed its high credit quality.
Also, as a result of the sanctions against the country, international ESG rating agencies scaled down their engagement with Russian companies, including PhosAgro. Hence, PhosAgro’s international ESG ratings today cannot adequately reflect the Company’s ESG practices.
PhosAgro is currently making efforts to obtain credit and ESG ratings from Russian rating agencies.
| External ESG assessment | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | | А | А | ||
 | Сorporate transparency rating | | А | А+↑ | |
 | WWF Environmental Transparency Rating for Mining and Metal Companies | 14 | 8↑ | 7↑ | |
 | Responsibility and Transparency index | B | A↑ | А | |
| Sustainable Development Vector index | B | A↑ | А | ||
| Disclosure of UN SDG integration rating | B | A↑ | А | ||