Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Impact of Disruption to Global Fertilizer Supply Chains

Question:

Ms He Ting Ru: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment given ongoing disruption to global fertiliser supply chains (a) what is the Government’s assessment of the impact on (i) Singapore’s food security, particularly for vulnerable households and (ii) local food production targets; and (b) what further contingency measures will be put in place to safeguard food security and mitigate price increases amid rising input costs.

Answer:

The ongoing disruption to global fertiliser supply chains due to the Middle East conflict has not had any significant impact on our food supply yet.

Nonetheless, if the disruption continues, reduced application of fertilisers could translate to lower agricultural yield globally in future crop cycles. This may in turn adversely affect animal feed production, which are formulated from food crops such as corn and wheat, and lead to potential downstream global production constraints for animal proteins. We therefore cannot rule out some eventual disruption to global and local food supply.

The Government is monitoring our food supply situation closely. We stand ready to leverage our food security pillars of diversification, global partnerships, local production, and stockpiling efforts when required. In addition, since the start of this Middle East conflict, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has stepped up efforts to further strengthen our resilience. First, we have been engaging importers and retailers to share with them information on possible risks to food supply, so that they may ready alternative supply lines and prepare for possible disruptions. Second, we have recently approved new sources of meat and meat products such as from Latvia, Lithuania, Greece and Peru. Third, SFA has also been closely engaging local farms to understand the impact of the conflict on their operations and are looking at ways to support local farms in managing production costs and weathering this crisis, building on recently announced efforts like the Agri-Food Cluster Transformation Fund 2. 

At the same time, our supply resilience strategies cannot fully insulate us from food inflation caused by structural global factors. We must expect that the increase in energy, shipping and fertiliser costs due to the developments in the Middle East will translate to higher global prices for various commodities, including food.

Last month, the Government announced broad-based support measures for households and businesses. These will help to cushion some of these cost pressures. We will continue to monitor developments and stand ready to do more if the situation worsens.