Industrial Minerals


FOCUS: Indian fertiliser industry wary of North Africa crisis

17 March 2011

by Alex Feytis

India could consider alternative raw material sources if unrest escalates further

Keywords: phosphate, fertiliser, fertilizer, Tunisia, CPG, Tata Chemicals, India

 
 Protests in Tunisia
The wind of rebellion, which began to blow at the end of 2010 across North Africa and the Middle East sparking some of the most significant political change and potential reforms to hit the region for some time, is starting to have a butterfly effect in India.

India, a huge consumer of fertilisers, has very limited resources of phosphate rock domestically. As a consequence, the Asian country has to import most of the raw material needed to manufacture its fertiliser products, with North Africa and the Middle East being the main suppliers.

Of the 2.3m. tonnes of phosphoric acid imported annually for fertiliser requirements in India, Morocco, South Africa, Senegal, Jordan, Tunisia and the USA account for about 95% of total imports. Jordan, Algeria, Togo, China, Egypt, Vietnam and Morocco account for about 98% of the 5m. tonnes of phosphate rock imported annually to India. According...