PHOSPHATE
1 WORLD SUPPLY – 2013
Preliminary data of USGS (United States Geological Survey) indicate that global production
of phosphate rock in 2013 was slightly higher than the previous year, with only three countries,
China, the United States and Morocco (including Western Sahara), accounting for 70% of world
production.
Brazilian reserves have been revised and are shown in Chart 1. Between 2008 and 2013, the
DNPM (National Department of Mineral Production) approved 22 final research reports and
reserves revaluation, which demonstrates the interest of companies in this activity. Unlike global
reserves, which occur mainly in sedimentary rocks, with levels between 25% and 33% of P2O5 and
more uniform and simpler mineralogy, Brazilian reserves occur in igneous carbonatite rocks, with
10-11% average of P2O5 and more complex mineralogy and low degree of uniformity, resulting in a
more complex industrial exploitation and, consequently, higher costs.
Chart 1 Reserve and world production
Reserves (10³t P2O5)
Countries
2013(p)(1)
(2)
Brazil
315.000
China
3.700.000
Unites States
1.100.000
Morocco (Including Western Sahara)
50.000.000
Russia
1.300.000
Jordan
1.300.000
Egypt
100.000
Tunisia
100.000
Peru
820.000
Israel
130.000
Saudi Arabia
211.000
Other Countries
7.727.000
TOTAL
66.803.000
Source: DNPM/DIPLAM; USGS – Mineral Commodity Summaries 2014
Production (103t)
2012(r)
2013(p)
%
6.750
6.715
3,0
95.300
97.000 43,4
30.100
32.300 14,4
28.000
28.000 12,5
11.200
12.500
5,6
6.380
7.000
3,1
6.240
6.000
2,7
2.600
4.000
1,8
3.210
3.900
1,7
3.510
3.600
1,6
3.000
3.000
1,3
20.500
19.570
8,8
216.790 223.585
100
(1) P2O5 Nutrients; (2) Mineable reserves; (r) revised; (p) preliminary data.
2 DOMESTIC PRODUCTION
In 2013, there were mined 39 million tons of “run of mine” (ROM) in 10 Brazilian mines. The
average was 9.6% P2O5. This production resulted in 6.7 million tons with an average of 37% P2O5.
The State of Minas Gerais was responsible for producing 49% of the national phosphate in 2013,
followed by Goiás with 36%, São Paulo with 10%, Bahia with 4% and Tocantins with the remaining.
In Minas Gerais the operations are located in the municipalities of Tapira, Araxá, Patos de Minas
and Lagamar. Tapira is the largest phosphate rock producer in Brazil, and the towns of Patrocinio
and Serra do Salitre have not yet started production, despite extensive reserves. In Goiás the
operations are located in the municipalities of Catalan and Ouvidor; in São Paulo at the town of
Cajati; and in Bahia at Campo Alegre de Lourdes.
The Vale Company accounted for 71% of national production in 2013, followed by
Anglo/Copebrás with 21%, Galvani with 7.2%, and MBAC and Socal companies completed
production.
3 IMPORTS
Imports are divided into rock concentrate, phosphoric acid and intermediate products. In 2013,
the import of concentrate (NCM 25101010), from Vale’s Bayovar mine in Peru, accounted for 45%
of imports, while Morocco, traditional supplier, accounted for 36%, reducing its participation. 1.5
Mt were imported with US$ 210 million expenditure. Furthermore 142.242 t of phosphoric acid
(NCM 28092019) were imported in 2013, expending US$ 58 million. Intermediate products hit a
record last year, especially DAP (NCM 31054000) with 2.5Mt imported and expenditure of US$ 1.2
billion. MAP, Simple Superphosphate, Triple Superphosphate and others completed the agenda of
“intermediate products”, with expenditures over US$ 3billion.
4 EXPORT
Brazil reduced in 2013 to less than half the export of concentrate compared to 2012, with
404 t and value of US$ 131 000. However, among manufactured goods, the main item was fertilizers
with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NCM 31052000), of which in 2013 500.720 t was
exported, generating US$ 254 million.
5 DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION
In 2013, according to the National Association for Promotion of Fertilizers (ANDA), there was a
record-breaking volume of fertilizers delivered to the final consumer, with 31 million tons. As the
Brazilian phosphate production has not increased to meet domestic demand, this growth has been
accomplished by increasing imports.
Chart 2 – Key statistics - Brazil
Topics
Production
2011(r)
6.738 / 2.374
6.715 / 2.504
6.715 / 2.504
Phosphoric acid (product) / (P2O5)(**)
(103t)
2.043 / 1.045
2.517 / 1.287
2.437 / 1.258
(103t)
7.642 / 1.971
7.699 / 2.145
7.443 / 2.082
(P2O5)(**)
Concentrate (primary goods)
Phosphoric acid (product)
Intermediate Products (chemical
components)(*)
Concentrate (primary goods)
Export
Apparent
Consumption (1)
Prices
2013(p)
Conc. (primary goods) / P2O5 (**)
Intermediate products /
Import
2012(r)
(103t)
Phosphoric acid (product)
(103t)
(103 US$-FOB)
(103t)
(103
US$-FOB)
(103t)
(103 US$-FOB)
(103t)
(103
US$-FOB)
(103t)
(103
US$-FOB)
(103t)
2.856
1.267
1.628
206.564
205.475
219.917
308
163
148
160.587
89.740
63.489
4.834
5.399
7.258
3.174.596
2.619.062
3.185.157
1
1
1
436
310
319
21
22
30
20.514
22.849
29.786
668
540
674
306.775
279.112
335.199
8.342
Intermediate Products (chemical
components)(*)
(103 US$-FOB)
Concentrate (primary goods)
(103t)
7.917
8.006
Phosphoric Acid (product)
Intermediate Products (chemical
components)(*)
Concentrate (rock)(2)
(103t)
2.331
2.658
2.555
(103t)
11.808
12.601
14.027
(US$/t FOB)
(US$/t FOB)
269,00
72,32
n/d
162,17
n/d
135,08
(US$/t FOB)
(US$/t FOB)
519,83
656,63/458,83
550,50
481,26/511,31
428,98
438,85/497,33
Concentrate
(rock)(3)
Phosphoric Acid (3)
Intermediate Products
(imp./exp.)(4)
Source: DNPM/DIPLAM; ANDA/IBRAFOS/SIACESP/SIMPRIFERT/SIMPRIFERT; SECEX/MDIC (import and export).
(1) Production + import – Export; (2)average price industrial sales; (3)Brazilian import average price; (4)average price:
Brazilian import/brazilian export; (8)intermediate products: monoamonic phosphate – MAP, diamonic phosphate – DAP, SS,
SD, TSD, ST – thermophosphate, NPK, PK, NP and others; (**) nutrients in P2O5, (p) preliminary, (r) revised.
6 ONGOING AND/OR PLANNED
In Ceará, the consortium INB/Galvani plans to start the processing plant construction of the
mine located in Santa Quiteria and Itatiaia in early 2015, with expectation of starting production of
fertilizers and “yellow cake” in 2017.
In Serra do Salitre (MG), Galvani aims to start production in 2015. The same company plans to
expand production at its mine located in Campo Alegre de Lourdes (BA).
The Vale's project in Patrocinio and Serra do Salitre, in Minas Gerais, is under study.
In 2013 MBAC inaugurated its processing plant in Arraias (TO), and has advanced in its
projects at Santana (PA) and Araxa (MG).
Anglo/Copebrás have conducted studies in order to increase production capacity in Catalao
and Ouvidor (GO) and Cubatao plant (SP).
7 OTHER RELEVANT FACTORS
The Brazilian dependence on fertilizers has been strongly debated for years, but apart from
the question of whether there are mines or not that can ensure future production, in this case the
whole production chain should be studied. In the case of phosphate, Brazil has some mines that
could be into production, such as Patrocinio and Serra do Salitre. However, when analyzing the
supply chain, bottlenecks can be identified. The product following the concentrate is phosphoric
acid and this demands sulfur, a substance that Brazil produces little and has to import to produce
sulfuric acid, one of the inputs in production stage. For this reason, it turns out that there is a
tendency of importing manufactured products. This picture may change with a greater national
production of sulfur, with the entry into production of Petrobras new refineries, such as Abreu e
Lima, in Pernambuco, as well as the nitrogen fertilizer plants in Uberaba (MG), also from Petrobras.
This way, the factors sulfur, urea and ammonia end up becoming decisive in the decision to open
new mines in Brazil, as they form part of the final products formulation.
Source: Mineral Summary 2014 - DNPM/MME