MARKET NEWS

Phosphorus fertilizer is one of the three basic fertilizers, which is closely related to the development of agriculture.  The effect of phosphorus fertilizer depends on the available content of phosphorus fertilizer, soil properties, fertilization methods, crop types and so on.  Rational application of phosphorus fertilizer can increase crop yield, improve crop quality, accelerate tillering and promote grain fullness.  

According to different sources, phosphorus fertilizer can be divided into natural phosphate fertilizer and chemical phosphate fertilizer;  According to the solubility of phosphate, phosphate fertilizer can be divided into water-soluble phosphate fertilizer, citrate soluble phosphate fertilizer and insoluble phosphate fertilizer three categories;  According to the different production methods, phosphate fertilizer can be divided into wet phosphate fertilizer and hot phosphate fertilizer.  

From the point of view of the industry chain, the upstream of phosphate fertilizer refers to phosphate ore, sulfur, synthetic ammonia and other raw materials;  The middle reaches refer to the production of phosphate fertilizer. The main enterprises include Yunan Chemical Group, Xinfa Group, Guizhou Phosphate Chemical, Xinyangfeng Fertilizer Industry and Hubei Yihua.  Downstream applications mainly include rice, vegetables, fruits and other planting fields.

Phosphate fertilizer takes phosphate ore as the main raw material, so the output of phosphate fertilizer is greatly affected by the output of phosphate ore.  However, in recent years, the output of phosphate ores in China has shown a downward trend. According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, the output of phosphate ores in China reached 123,132 K tons in 2017, and then decreased to 88,933 K tons in 2020 after three years of negative growth.  In 2021, the output of phosphate ore achieved positive growth, with a growth rate of 15.7%, reaching 102,899 K tons.  In 2022, production continued to rise to 104,745 K tons, a year-on-year increase of 1.8%.

At present, China\'s phosphate fertilizer industry faces the problem of excess production capacity, and affected by environmental protection policies, limited market demand growth and other factors, since 2017, China\'s phosphate fertilizer output has been declining almost year by year.  Data showed that the output of phosphate fertilizer in China decreased from 15010.5 K tons in 2017 to 10390.4 K tons in 2021, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of -8.79% from 2017 to 2021.