AWhen the Czech Republic agricultural conglomerate Agrofert set out last year to acquire the fertilizer business of Austrian company OMV, there was great excitement in Austria: Did the Prague-based company perhaps want to buy the market without any further interest in the aging Linz plant? Agrofert has since obtained all the necessary approvals and transferred the purchase price of 810 million euros for the additional locations in Austria, France, and Germany.
As it turns out, the takeover has consequences – not the feared ones for Linz, but unexpected ones for the SKW Stickstoffwerke Piesteritz in Lutherstadt Wittenberg, which have been owned by the largest agricultural conglomerate in the Czech Republic since 2006. This is because in Germany, the gas levy complicates the energy-intensive business, which had already been scaled back in 2022 due to high gas and electricity costs.