Asia Potash announces phosphate fertilizer complex plan in Egypt

China’s Asia Potash International Investment announced one of Egypt’s largest ever investments, with its recently unveiled plans to set up a phosphate fertilizer industrial complex in Upper Egypt set to have a final investment ticket of USD 7-10 bn, company representatives said during a meeting with General Authority for Investment and Freezones boss Hossam Heiba.

Just the first phase of the complex will cost USD 1.6 bn, which is expected to go live within 18 months from the start of construction and create 3k direct jobs. Representatives from the company — whose largest shareholder is the Chinese state — added that the first phase “will involve the exploration and extraction of 2 mn tons of phosphate annually, converting it into phosphate fertilizers, and exporting 100% of the production to neighboring market.” The complex will have a total annual production capacity of 10 mn tons of phosphate once all phases of the project are fully operational.

The project will stretch across large parts of Upper Egypt, with production facilities and the company’s extraction operations stretching from Luxor’s Esna to Aswan’s Sibaiyya.

Keeping the project environmentally friendly is also part of the plan, with Asia Potash planning to partner with local green ammonia producers to secure the necessary energy supplies for its complex as part of its efforts to produce environmentally-friendly fertilizers — a notoriously energy intensive operation that makes up a substantial part of our carbon emissions.