The domestic phosphorus industry remained stable in Dec. 2013, and also the overseas market did not appear large swings compared with the status in last month.
In Dec. 2013, the exploitation quantity of phosphorus ore continued reducing, but as the inventory was adequate in the previous period, there is no large shortage in the phosphorus market. The operation rate of most yellow phosphorus enterprises was less than 40%, mainly causing by the increasing electricity price and the stagnant downstream market. Since the overcapacity problem still existed, China's phosphate fertilizer industry remained weak in Dec. Under the relatively depressed circumstances of the whole phosphorus industry, the phosphoric acid and fine chemicals companies were working on the orders that were received in earlier 2013.
The most notable event of phosphorus fertilizer industry in the beginning of 2014 undoubtedly is the implementation of the Tariff Execution Plan 2014. The policy has come into force on Jan. 1, 2014, which may boost the domestic export situation and impact the global phosphorus fertilizer market to a certain degree, but the influence of this new policy may be limited as given the grim situation of overcapacity and oversupply in the domestic market.
Average exchange rate in Dec. 2013, USD:CNY=1:6.0716 (Source: the People's Bank of China)

