cadmium, page-9

From another Fert company commenting on the former EU proposals to limit Cad content...

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/newsroom/cf/document.cfm?action=display&doc_id=3004&userservice_id=1&request.id=0

3. Decadmiation technology: technical and economical problematic
Actually, there are two possibilities to remove cadmium from the phosphor fertilizers: removing cadmium from phosphate rock (calcination method) and removing cadmium from wet process phosphoric acid (being co-crystallisation the most promising method). From an economical point of view, the second method is the more practicable. Nevertheless, since there is no decadmiation plant actually running, it is difficult to estimate the cost resulting from the decadmiation. The estimation vary between US$ 20 and US$ 45/ ton P2O5 at the primary production stage (not taking into account the costs derived from the residual cadmium). It is very difficult to establish the cost consequences of a technology that is still in laboratory scale and not yet commercially viable. Some sources (Davister, 1996) indicate that in best case (anhydrite co-crystallisation) the operating costs are still 20 to 30% of the wet process acid operating costs. In other methods the costs are over 75% of the WPA operating costs.
The macro-economical consequences of the proposed measure will lead to market segmentation and will have a very negative consequence in countries like Morocco. There the decadmiation plant has already been tested in laboratory scales, but without commercial continuity. That means that since there is no technology ready to be implemented, Morocco and other providers with sedimentary rock phosphate will be out of the scenario as an EU main supplier, being replaced by suppliers of phosphates with magmatic origin such as Russia.
It cannot be assumed that the farmer should hold the extra-costs resulting from this measure easily. In many cases, farmers are already in a very difficult situation, mainly in extensive crops areas with a high dependence of EU aids, so that it will be hard to transfer the costs to the farmers. It is difficult to define the elasticity of phosphor consume to price increase, but it will probably induce a reduction in P fertilization, mainly in the less profitable extensive crops. The possible negative effect of phosphor fertilizer, with regard to environmental cadmium, must be balanced against their importance in agriculture.
The discussion where the decadmiation process has to take place (outside of the EU borders by the suppliers, or within the EU by the fertilizers producers) would not change the situation for the agriculture, because finally, the European farmers will have to pay the bill.