Egypt targets stronger global fertilizer presence with $2B+ push to produce DAP and phosphoric acid domestically

Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli announced on May 10 that the government is accelerating a strategy to shift the country from raw phosphate rock exports to high-value fertilizer and industrial chemical manufacturing, backed by two flagship projects worth a combined $2B+.

Egypt holds 2.8 billion metric tonnes of phosphate reserves — the third largest in the world after Morocco and China — and has historically exported the majority of its output as unprocessed rock. The new strategy aims to extract more value from those reserves domestically while strengthening Egypt’s position in a global fertilizer market disrupted by the Iran war and Hormuz shipping constraints.

The two anchor projects are a $573 million phosphoric acid plant at the Abu Tartour deposit and a $525 million DAP/MAP fertilizer complex at Ain Sokhna in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, developed by Misr Phosphate in partnership with Indorama. The Ain Sokhna facility will have a production capacity of 600,000 tonnes per year of DAP and MAP, using locally mined phosphate rock with 26–27% P₂O₅ content from Misr Phosphate’s Red Sea mines. Construction is scheduled to begin in Q2 2026, with first production targeted for 2028.

A third project — a $2 billion integrated complex co-developed with China-based Xingfa Group at Sokhna 360 industrial city — extends the strategy into battery-grade phosphate chemicals in a later phase, positioning Egypt toward the electric vehicle materials supply chain.

Morocco’s OCP controls approximately 70% of global phosphate reserves and is Egypt’s primary competitor for downstream processing investment in North Africa. Egypt’s manufacturing push is timed well: DAP prices hit $930–935 per ton CFR India in May 2026, making in-country fertilizer production substantially more attractive than raw rock export at prevailing market rates. Egypt’s phosphate production reached 5.5 million tonnes in 2025, up from 5.3 million tonnes the prior year.

Source: Egypt State Information Service