Major Egyptian phosphate rock producer Misr Phosphate has ventured into the production of fertilizers, boosting its required phosphate rock output.
Construction of Misr Phosphate’s DAP/MAP/NPK plant will begin at Ain Sokhna in northeast Egypt by the 2Q26 once negotiations with lenders conclude at the end of 2025.
The plant will have a capacity of 600 000 tpy of DAP. Its annual capacity for phosphoric acid and sulfuric acid will be 320 000 t solution and 1.023 million t, respectively.
Misr Phosphate said that it will provide 1.25 million tpy of phosphate rock from its Red Sea mines to the plant.
The plant is under a joint venture of which Misr Phosphate will be a 15% shareholder and will receive 20% of production, which it plans to sell both to traders and directly to destination markets.
In July 2024, Egypt's petroleum and mineral resources ministry reported meeting with global manufacturer Indorama to discuss establishing a phosphate fertilizer plant in Ain Sokhna in cooperation with Misr Phosphate.
Misr Phosphate is also working on projects with a Chinese producer, likely to be Chuanjinnuo, and with another Egyptian company. Pre-feasibility studies for both projects are ongoing.
Phosphate rock output to increase
To meet the requirements for its downstream projects in Egypt, and to maintain its presence in the global phosphate rock market, Misr Phosphate is increasing its phosphate rock production.
It said that its total run-of-mine across all its facilities may reach a capacity of 7 million tpy by the end of 2025.
Drilling programmes to increase proven reserves are ongoing and Misr Phosphate aims to secure more mining licences in 2026.
It is undergoing explorations near El-Dakhla in southwest Egypt to find new reserves.
The producer started marketing phosphate rock with reduced dust content from its mine at Abu Tartour at the end of 2024, mostly selling the product to Europe. It is aiming to increase its production of de-dusted rock to 1 million tpy by the end of 2026. The "de-dusting" facility had been running at an output of around 1000 tpd in February.
The proportion of fine particles in phosphate rock as it naturally occurs in Egypt had made it too dusty to be unloaded at many European ports.
Misr Phosphate said that in January-October this year it supplied around 600 000 t of phosphate rock to Europe, most of which is de-dusted product. This is already up compared with the 433 000 t of Egyptian phosphate rock that the EU imported in 2024, according to GTT data, which was less than half the volume from top-supplier Morocco in the same period.
Further east, demand for phosphate rock imports to Vietnam is emerging because of reduced domestic supply. Misr Phosphate said that so far this year it has shipped 150 000 t of phosphate rock to Vietnam, averaging 27% P2O5. The country imported 47 000 t of phosphate rock in 2024, and only 2000 t in 2023, all from Egypt.
Some market participants expect Vietnamese phosphate rock demand to be as high as 1 million t in 2026.
Vietnam reportedly takes phosphate rock from Egypt's Red Sea mines, rather than Abu Tartour.
The quality of Egyptian phosphate rock delivered to buyers had been variable in the past. Misr Phosphate said that it has implemented improved quality control procedures throughout the mining and processing of the rock.
Original article by Tom Hampson for Argus Media.