Sri Lanka will produce own Single Super Phosphate for domestic use

Sri Lanka has had difficulty sourcing phosphate fertilizers due to the ongoing military conflict between Ukraine and Russia. To overcome this problem, Sri Lankan local companies have planned to produce a Single Super Phosphate (SSP) fertilizer needed for the country. Sri Lanka will use Eppawala Rock Phosphate from the North Central Province, which is suitable for paddy and other crops and can be used as a substitute for the Triple Super Phosphate Fertilizer or TSP, which is currently imported from foreign countries. The annual cost of importing TSP fertilizer to Sri Lanka is about 3 billion rupees ($36 million), while most of these fertilizers were imported from Russia and neighboring countries.

Four local companies have taken the necessary steps to produce the fertilizer locally. The representatives of those companies recently met and discussed their plans with the country’s Minister of Agriculture, Mr Mahinda Amaraweera. Sri Lanka requires about 15,000 metric tons of TSP fertilizer manually, which can be covered by local fertilizer manufacturing companies. Reportedly, the current stock of Single Super Phosphate fertilizer is nearly 4,000 metric tons, while producers can add up to the necessary number.

Minister Mahinda Amaraweera told the reporters that fertilizer will be produced under the full supervision of the Department of Agriculture, and state-owned Lanka Fertilizer Company, while commercial companies will be responsible for distribution.