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Fertilizer International 525 Mar-Apr 2025

18 March 2025

Misr Phosphate starts 'low-dust' rock exports

Misr Phosphate has started to export phosphate rock with a low dust content via the port of Damietta on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast.

A newly constructed ‘de-dusting’ unit at the company’s Abu Tartour phosphate mine in the New Valley Governate, southwestern Egypt, is currently operating at a capacity of 1,000 t/d. This unit removes around 80% of the fines (less than 80 micrometres in size) from crushed phosphate rock. Beneficially, this de-dusting process also raises phosphate rock grade – by about 1.0-1.5% P2O5 – while also reducing heavy metal content, according to the company.

To date, Misr Phosphate has exported 15,000 tonnes of low-dust phosphate rock (27-29% P2O5) to southern Europe. The company also loaded a slightly lower grade 7,000 tonne shipment (26-27 P2O5) destined for Brazil at the end of February. Future consignments include a planned 15,000 tonne March shipment to Brazil and a 20,000 tonne April shipment to Spain.

Egypt’s phosphate rock exports reached 5.2 million tonnes last year, according to EMPHCO, the Egyptian phosphate and fertilizer marketing company, and are expected to rise to six million tonnes in 2025. EMPHCO is currently forecasting 1.2 million tonnes of phosphate rock exports from Egypt in the year’s first quarter.

Misr Phosphate produces around five million t/a of phosphate rock from its Abu Tartour mine, located about 50 kilometres west of El Kharga City, the capital of the New Valley Governate. The new fines removal unit at the site is expected to ramp up to 2,000 t/d capacity in the second quarter.

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New phosphoric acid plant

Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi and New Valley Governor, Mohamed Al-Zamlout were present at the signing of a framework agreement between a consortium of Egyptian public companies to build a new phosphoric acid plant at Abu Tartour in the New Valley region. The project aims to maximise added value and increasing the economic return on Egyptian phosphate ore by using it in higher-yield industries rather than exporting it as a raw material. The Egyptian state-owned consortium includes Abu Qir Fertilizers; East Gas Company, Mineral Resources and Mining Industries Authority; Misr Phosphate, AT-PHOS, Petroleum Projects and Technical Consultations Company (PETROJET), and Engineering for the Petroleum and Process Industries (ENPPI), all of which are shareholders in the project. The contractor agreement was signed with a Chinese consortium of China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) and East China Engineering Science and Technology Co (ECEC).

Sonatrach awards Saipem phosphate project FEED contract

Saipem has won a front-end engineering design (FEED) contract from Sonatrach for an integrated phosphate fertilizer project in Algeria. The contract was awarded through a dual competitive process, enabling the design work to be conducted by both Saipem and a competitor company. Sonatrach will assess and compare the two FEED options from both parties, select the best technical and economic design, and then proceed with the direct award of an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to execute the project.

OCP certifies low cadmium phosphates

OCP Nutricrops has received a certification that its customised phosphate fertilizers, developed specifically for the European market, meet the EU’s stringent low cadmium content requirements. The certified fertilizers contain less than 20 milligrams of cadmium per kilogram of phosphorus pentoxide (P2 O5 ), far below the European Union’s regulatory ceiling of 60 mg/kg. OCP Nutricrops says that it plans to expand this low-cadmium benchmark across all its fertilizer products worldwide by the end of 2025. Reducing cadmium in agricultural fertilizers is considered a public health priority across Europe. This initiative is closely aligned with EU goals to mitigate food-related health risks and safeguard ecosystems from harmful contaminants.