Restructuring of the European Fertilizer Industry

Abstract

Studies of recent changes in the structure of the European production system have focused upon relatively few sectors. The experience of the EU fertilizer industry since the early 1980s is reviewed. It demonstrates a combination of organizational and spatial concentration consistent with the anticipated effects of economic integration upon a mature, declining industry with a history of serving fragmented national markets. This interpretation is, however, superficial. Observed changes are the outcomes of multiple processes and agencies. Many of these have operated at national, rather than European scales. Government intervention, reflecting the strategic significance of the fertilizer industry for agricultural policy, has been an important influence in several countries. This strategic dimension has also influenced the commercial evolution of the industry. Although fertilizers have played an important role in the business histories of some of Europe's largest multinational corporations (MNCs) such as BASF and IC, this role has been largely restricted to domestic production facilities. The assumption that the configuration of the evolving European production system will be determined by the continental vision of large MNCs is, therefore, not appropriate. Only two, Scandinanvian-based companies have, as a result of essentially opportunistic expansion by cross-bor-der acquisitions, moved in the direction of a pan-European strategy.