Ravensdown to restructure as fertiliser sales drop

Ravensdown fertiliser plant in Hornby, Christchurch. Photo / Google Maps

By Sally Murphy of RNZ

Fertiliser company Ravensdown is undergoing a restructure after a 20 to 25 per cent drop in sales.

Chief operating officer Mike Whitty said farmers had a “pretty tough time” over recent months with inflation and high input costs and were buying less fertiliser.

Prices for farm produce had fallen between 8 and 15 per cent, he said.

“On top of that, they’ve had a 25 percent-plus increase for their input costs like fuel, feed, fertiliser funding and labour.

“We’ve gone from most farming businesses being in a really positive position to a really challenging position where many of them are in a break-even or loss position now.

“That’s resulted in fertiliser sales coming back, so we are just responding to the market and making sure we are in a position to look after our customers into the future.”

Ravensdown was expecting lower sales for some time, so a restructure was needed, Whitty said.

He could not say how many jobs may be lost but said the outcome of the restructure would be known mid-year.

“The last time we saw a drop in sales like this was back in 2009 during the global financial crisis ... where commodity prices went through the roof and then corrected.”

- RNZ