Turkmenistan Boosts Potash Fertilizer Shipments to Brazil Amid Middle East Tensions

Amid the Middle‑East geopolitical crisis, Brazil turned to new suppliers for agricultural inputs. In the first half of 2026 it imported 1.3 million tonnes of potash fertilizer from Turkmenistan, a market from which it had bought virtually none a year earlier. Total fertilizer imports for the period reached 18.3 million tonnes, valued at about US$ 7 billion – a 9 % rise in cost.

The truce between the United States and Iran helped stabilize global input prices; uranium, potash and phosphates have fallen back toward pre‑war levels. Turkmenistan now ranks among Brazil’s top fertilizer providers, behind Russia, China, Canada and Morocco. The shift reflects Brazil’s expanding sowed area – grain land grew from 38 million ha in 2000 to 84 million ha – and the need to curb production costs for soy, corn and other crops.

Overall, Brazil’s fertilizer imports fell 6 % compared with the same period in 2025, but the diversification of sources is seen as a strategic response to external supply shocks.