Kailin, Wengfu merge to form Chinese phosphate giant

China's state-owned phosphate producers Wengfu and Kailin have officially confirmed their merger, creating the country's largest phosphate and NPK producer.

The announcement this week confirmed what has been rumoured in the industry for nearly a year. The merger will create a joint firm with phosphate/NPK capacity of more than 10mn t/yr.

Kailin and Wengfu, both based in the southwest province of Guizhou, were China's second and third largest phosphate fertilizer producers respectively in 2018. But the merger will put them above Yunnan-based producer YTH's 8.7mn t/yr capacity.

The combined firm will have phosphate reserves of around 1.5bn t, accounting for 40pc of China's total.

No further details of the merger were disclosed by Wengfu.

China's phosphate fertilizer production dropped by 0.9pc to 16.96mn t of P2O5 last year amid environmental controls, according to statistics from the China Phosphate and Compound Fertilizer Industry Association.