This applies to the segment of FERTIS complex granular fertilizers (Lithuania). The large fleet of rail cars in the Baltic states and short transit times made it possible to deliver large volumes of cargo quickly. The production plan was scheduled 1-2 months in advance, so there was a clear understanding of the delivery schedule.<\/p>\n
We began actively discussing the need to rebuild routes within the company back in December 2021, when the US imposed sanctions on a number of Belarusian companies, including Belaruskali and its export division Belarusian Potash Company, which annually exported more than 12 million tonnes of potash through Lithuania\u2019s largest port, Klaip\u0117da.<\/p>\n
We realized that further developments could jeopardize the timely fulfilment of the company\u2019s obligations, so we negotiated in advance and signed long-term fertilizer transshipment contracts with a number of Polish terminals.<\/p>\n
At the beginning of the 2022 spring season, we, like other market players, had to rebuild all logistics processes practically from scratch. The delivery distance and cost increased significantly. Despite this, we managed to gradually optimize these processes and increase volumes thanks to the coordinated work of all supply chain participants. For example, the transshipment volume in Q1 2023 exceeded the volume for the same period of 2021, which was a record for the company.<\/p>\n \u201cLogistics always requires a flexible approach, an understanding of the market and reliable partners,\u201d says Valentin Pervanchuk, Head of Logistics and Foreign Trade of the group of companies <\/i>Binfield<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n BINFIELD has an extensive network of warehouses which, depending on the season, store from 5 to 10 thousand tonnes of fertilizers belonging to both the company and its customers. With the start of the full-scale war, it was necessary to quickly decide how to ensure the protection and safety of warehouse staff and preserve the goods. This primarily concerned regions where active hostilities were taking place.<\/p>\n For a while, we had to suspend the operation of the company\u2019s largest production and warehouse complex, located in Kyiv Region. At the same time, part of the goods stored there for customer orders was moved to the west of the country. This entailed significant costs.<\/p>\n During the 2022 spring season, the company\u2019s main hub was the warehouse complex of the division BINFIELD LOGISTICS<\/a> in Ternopil Region, which continued to operate steadily, both receiving goods and shipping products to our customers.<\/p>\n It is worth highlighting separately that at the start of the full-scale war, about 3 thousand tonnes of the company\u2019s products were at the port of Mykolaiv. Until 2022, the port handled 25-27% of all the company\u2019s imports, mostly phosphate fertilizers. Despite the lack of transport and the constant risk of shelling in the region, we managed to take the goods out of the port with minimal losses thanks to the coordinated work of the #BINFIELD_TEAM and our partners.<\/p>\n Overall, the threat of missile strikes forced us to tighten the requirements for product storage conditions in terms of volumes and placement layouts at warehouse facilities. This especially applies to nitrogen products.<\/p>\n Depending on the season, 85-90% of the volume imported by the company is delivered by rail. 2022 was no exception, as we relied on logistics terminals located on the LHS line (Poland), which has the same track gauge as in Ukraine and runs from the Hrubiesz\u00f3w border crossing to S\u0142awk\u00f3w station.<\/p>\n The availability of rail cars depends directly on Ukrainian exports to EU countries. Against the background of falling industrial exports in 2022, we felt an acute shortage of rail cars. This was especially noticeable in June-July 2022, when we were working on fulfilling contracts for the summer-autumn sowing campaign.<\/p>\n However, with the growth of Ukrainian grain exports to Poland, we got a constant flow of rail cars that allowed us to transport 9-11 thousand tonnes per month through the Polish border alone.<\/p>\n Problems in road transport should be highlighted separately.<\/p>\n Fuel shortages, long queues at international checkpoints, the need for detours via safe routes, checkpoints and curfew-related restrictions \u2014 all these factors at different times complicated road logistics and made it more expensive. During the season, this affected the planning of transportation and the operation of the company\u2019s warehouses.<\/p>\n In fact, we had to rebuild the architecture of individual processes, from procurement to warehouse logistics. And all this happened during the season: shipments, relocation, investment in facilities \u2014 all processes in parallel. This is the enormous and professional work of the entire BINFIELD team, for which I am personally extremely grateful to them.<\/p>\n BINFIELD has been on the Ukrainian market since 2011. Thanks to the reliability, professionalism and coordinated work of its team, BINFIELD is a leader on the Ukrainian market in implementing effective technological solutions for crop fertilization. The company officially imports mineral fertilizers from leading European manufacturers, namely COMPO EXPERT GmbH, UAB Marijampoles NPK, the GRUPA AZOTY holding, Achema, Anwil and ICL.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s.mind.ua\/img\/forall\/i\/2023\/1684842825.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n2. Inventory and safe storage of products<\/h3>\n
3. Transportation<\/h3>\n