RESTRUCTURING OF THE EUROPEAN FERTILIZER INDUSTRY - NATIONAL PATTERNSIN CONTINENTAL PERSPECTIVE

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 demonstr ates a combination of organizational and spatial concentration consist ent with the anticipated effects of economic integration upon a mature , declining industry with a history of serving fragmented national mar kets. This interpretation is, however, superficial. Observed changes a re the outcomes of multiple processes and agencies. Many of these have operated at national, rather than European scales. Government interve ntion, reflecting the strategic significance of the fertilizer industr y 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 import ant role in the business histories of some of Europe's largest multina tional corporations (MNCs) such as BASF and ICI, this role has been la rgely restricted to domestic production facilities. The assumption tha t 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 resul t of essentially opportunistic expansion by cross-border acquisitions, moved in the direction of a pan-European strategy.