Phosphorus Industry China Monthly Report

CCM took part in the 2014 Sulfuric Acid and Fertilizer Seminar held on 5 Mar. in Beijing. The main topics included the fertilizer supply and demand, economic conditions and governmental policies, international sulfuric acid resources and market of phosphate fertilizer at home and abroad. In this issue, CCM pays attention to phosphate fertilizer, emphasizing on the analysis and summary of DAP, MAP and upstream products like sulfur.

In Feb. 2014, the overall phosphorus chemical market stayed weak, with stable prices of phosphorus ore, yellow phosphorus and phosphoric acid. Noticeably, the prices in some regions presented increasing tendency. Regarding phosphate fertilizers, the demands for DAP and MAP saw slight increases, since it entered the period of fertilizer storage after the Spring Festival. Besides, the price of sulfur (raw material) continued to increase. However, affected by overcapacity, the prices of phosphate fertilizers still maintained limited increases.

In addition, in this issue CCM also pays attention to the capacity expansion in the Middle East and South America and its influence on international trade. It is mainly attributed to the two reasons. For one thing, countries and regions in these areas present advantages in raw material and transportation costs. For another, the large producers and traders of phosphate fertilizers enhance their investments in project construction in these places, leading to the changes in the international trading pattern. In the view of CCM, it is in 2016 that the international trading pattern will witness great changes. Relevant enterprises should seize opportunities to carry out transformation and upgrading to strengthen their competitiveness.

The RMB exchange rate in this issue is USD1.00=RMB6.1190 on 3 Mar., 2014, sourced from the People's Bank of China.