Major Egyptian phosphate rock producer Misr Phosphate is venturing into the production of fertilizers, boosting its required phosphate rock output.
Misr Phosphate expects the construction of a DAP/MAP/NPK plant to begin at Ain Sokhna in northeast Egypt by the second quarter of 2026 after negotiations with lenders conclude by the end of this year.
The plant will have a capacity of 600,000 t/yr of DAP. Its annual capacity for phosphoric acid and sulphuric acid will be 320,000t solution and 1.023mn t, respectively.
Misr Phosphate said that it will provide 1.25mn t/yr 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 15pc shareholder and will receive 20pc 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 co-operation 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 7mn t/yr 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 1mn t/yr by the end of 2026. The "de-dusting" facility had been running at an output of around 1,000 t/day 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 600,000t of phosphate rock to Europe, most of which is de-dusted product. This is already up compared with the 433,000t 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 150,000t of phosphate rock to Vietnam, averaging 27pc P2O5. The country imported 47,000t of phosphate rock last year, and only 2,000t in the year before that, all from Egypt.
Some market participants expect Vietnamese phosphate rock demand to be as high as 1mn 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.
