Magazine: Fertilizer International

With phosphate supply concerns persisting as 2023 draws to a close, CRU’s Senior Analyst Logan Collins looks back at what’s been a dynamic year for the global phosphate market.

The ownership of Fertilizer International magazine transferred from BCInsight Ltd to CRU, the global commodities experts, at the start of the year.

The Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) has entered into a partnership with Metso and thyssenkrupp Uhde to develop and license an integrated process to reduce carbon emissions and recycle phosphogypsum in Saudi Arabia. A framework agreement between the three partners was jointly announced on 10th January.

Urea: December began on a positive note with a flurry of Egyptian urea sales and firmer prices for delivery to Brazil. The increase in values was short lived, however, and piecemeal demand in Europe was insufficient to halt the downward trend. By mid-December, buying interest from Brazil had fizzled out, although sellers breathed a sigh of relief when India’s NFL floated a new import tender on 21st December.

CRU Events will convene the 2024 Phosphates International Conference & Exhibition in Warsaw at the Hilton Warsaw City Hotel, 26-28 February.

Granulation technology generates a premium urea end-product in large volumes capable of withstanding lengthy storage and extreme shipping conditions. Prilling technology, meanwhile, given its typically lower investment cost, can be an attractive option for smaller-scale urea producers supplying local markets. Stamicarbon’s Dr Wilfried Dirkx, Ahmed Shams and Branislav Manic explore the technology options for urea finishing.

New regulatory developments in Europe are focusing attention on eliminating microplastic residues in soils by adopting biodegradable fertilizer coatings. Major technology licensors and engineering companies are also developing new coating technologies for controlled-release fertilizers (CRFs).

More than 700 delegates from 300 companies and 55 countries gathered at the EPIC SANA Lisboa Hotel, Lisbon, Portugal, 17-19 October 2023, for the Argus Fertilizer Europe 2023 conference.

Kevin De Bois of Prayon Technologies describes an innovative process for removing magnesium from phosphate rock. Increasingly, phosphoric acid producers are looking to consume low-grade phosphate rock as a feedstock due to the prohibitive costs of high-grade rock sources. This has potentially negative consequences as the presence of impurities such as magnesium can negatively affect both the phosphoric acid process and the quality of the acid produced.

Fertilizer International presents a global round-up of phosphate rock, phosphoric acid and finished phosphates projects.