Egypt will produce an additional 250,000 tons per year of phosphoric acid for exports to high-yield industries like agriculture.
Photo: Getty Images
Anew project investment backed by Egyptian officials aims to leverage the country’s mineral resources in order to drive a new wave of economic growth.
In June, Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources announced that final agreements and contracts to push a $658 million phosphoric acid production complex in the governorate of New Valley were complete. The site will be located in the region’s Abu Tartur Plateau, home to the country’s largest reserve of phosphates — over 1 billion tons of phosphate ore are estimated to lie within the nearby Abu Tartur mine.
The move to establish Egypt’s own phosphate production facility shifts focus from exporting phosphate ore, a raw material, to maximizing added value and economic return by targeting phosphoric acid exports toward high-yield industries. Rising global demand for phosphate derivatives sparked the idea for the complex back in 2019, with a goal of introducing 250,000 tons of phosphoric acid per year. Uses of the chemical include agriculture and fertilizer production when phosphate rock is treated with sulfuric acid. Other leading uses include food and beverage additives, wastewater treatment, metal rust removal, cosmetics and within detergents and cleaners.
The country has been intent on increasing phosphate ore production, delivering 16 million tons from July 2024 to April 2025, over 4 million tons more than the year prior. The Abu Tartur region will play a vital role in future growth goals, including bringing phosphate rock exports to 6 million metric tons up from the current 5.2 million tons.
Among other nitrogenous fertilizer/phosphate projects tracked so far this year by Site Selection’s Conway Projects Database:
- The Mosaic Company in July opened a new $84 million fertilizer blending, storage and distribution plant at a site in Palmeirante, Tocantins, Brazil. “The plant increases blending capacity and expands Mosaic’s presence in the fast-growing northern region of Brazil,” the company said. “With a capacity to process 1 million tonnes of fertilizer annually, and approximately 500,000 tonnes in 2025, the Palmeirante facility will be a key contributor to Mosaic’s ambitious growth plans in Brazil. Distribution sales are expected to grow from less than 8 million tonnes in 2024 to 13-14 million tonnes by the end of the decade.”
- Jay Shree Tea & Industries Ltd is investing approximately $7.3 million and creating around 200 jobs at what it calls a Single Super Phosphate (SSP) plant in Balasore, Odisha, India.
- Qazesta Fertilizers is investing more than $1.3 billion and creating 400 jobs at an operation in the company’s home territory in the Mangistau region of Kazakhstan, near the Kuryk seaport. Some 3,000 jobs are expected to be created over three and a half years of construction.
In Egypt, shareholders involved in the New Valley project include a number of Egyptian state-owned entities led by a Chinese consortium consisting of the China State Construction Engineering Corporation and the East China Engineering Science and Technology Company, which will build out the complex. At the signing event, held at the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources headquarters outside of Cairo in the New Administrative Capital, Minister Karim Badawi said the project falls within the “third axis of the ministry’s strategy,” which will provide a qualitative shift to Egypt’s mining sector while boosting overall contribution to the country’s annual gross domestic product. Currently, the mining sector makes up less than 1% of total GDP and officials aim to see a rise to 6% through this initiative.
With approvals officially secured the project will move forward into two phases of construction. The first phase is set to begin in 2026 and will begin production with an initial 250,000 tons of high-concentration commercial phosphoric acid made from locally mined phosphate ore by 2028. New Valley Deputy Governor Hanan Magdy said infrastructure projects that will bring over 1,800 miles of new roadways and solar power stations carrying 4 gigawatts of capacity will directly support this and future mining projects in the region.
Map by werbeantrieb: Getty Images
Development within New Valley Governorate has been difficult for leadership in Egypt, even though the region accounts for about half of the country’s land mass. Located in the Western Desert, as part of the greater Sahara, the region has a sparse population. For many years officials have attempted to navigate economic development growth opportunities and this project is anticipated to provide an ideal industrial pull to the governorate.
“We are fully prepared to implement this project according to the highest standards of quality and efficiency, reflecting our commitment to the state and society, and making this project a true industrial success story in Upper Egypt and a fundamental pillar for the growth of the phosphate fertilizer industry in Egypt and the region,” said Abu Tartur Phosphoric Acid Production Company Chairman Mohamed Abdel Azim.
In June 2025, all agreements and contracts were signed to move a new phosphoric acid production complex forward in Egypt.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources
