Fertilizer International 525 Mar-Apr 2025
18 March 2025
Latest in Asia
Avenira secures Wonarah phosphate offtake
Australian phosphate developer Avenira has signed a four-year agreement to supply 500,000 wet metric tonnes per year of phosphate rock from its proposed Wonarah project in the Northern Territory to Hebang Biotechnology (Hong Kong) Investment Limited.
MEScon Connect: Central Asia 2026
MEScon Connect: Central Asia 2026 marked the first MEScon event held outside the Middle East, bringing together more than 200 delegates in Almaty to strengthen ties across the global sulphur industry. The conference combined technical, commercial and market sessions, highlighting Central Asia’s growing role in sulphur production, logistics and export connectivity. Angie Slavens of UniverSUL Consulting reports on the key highlights.
Yuntianhua gives go ahead for giant phosphate mine
The board of Yunnan Yuntianhua gave the go ahead for the development of a massive underground phosphate mine in Yunnan province on 14th May. The major Chinese producer part owns the mine project through a 35% stake in its developer Julin New Materials. The other three owners are Yuntianhua Group (55%), Zhaotong Development Group (9%) and Zhenxiong Chanyi Investment (1%).
Restart for Hongda smelter
Hongda's 100,000 t/a zinc smelter, in China's Sichuan Province, completed scheduled maintenance and equipment upgrading and officially resumed production on 21st June, the company said. The smelter had been shut down for planned maintenance since January, during which time a modernisation project for the electrolytic zinc smelting system was also carried out. Following the nearly six-month revamp, the resumption of production is expected to improve overall operational efficiency, reduce unit production costs, and increase the utilisation rate, The company said. The stable supply of sulphuric acid generated by the zinc smelter will effectively leverage the synergies of the "sulphur-phosphorus" industrial chain in the company, an help alleviate cost pressures on the company's phosphorus chemical business segment.
Russia bans rail transport of Kazakh sulphur
Russia has ordered a “temporary cessation” of rail transport of all sulphur originating from Kazakhstan that is destined for Russian seaports and railway checkpoints, representing a significant policy shift, according to an official order from the Federal Agency for Railway Transport (Roszheldor). The directive, which took effect from May 26th, orders a halt to the loading and movement of Kazakh sulphur “until further notice.” While the measure is officially described as temporary, the order provides no specific timeline for when the transit might resume. The action cites instructions from Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister, D.V. Manturov, as its basis.