2025/11/26
The core future evolution of phosphate fertilizer production processes will be towards three major directions: green and low-carbon, high efficiency and intelligence, and high-end diversification. Fertilizer produciton lines will focus on improving resource utilization and implementing environmental constraints to drive technological iteration.
1. Green and Low-Carbon Transformation Becomes a Core Necessity
Process Route Optimization: The wet-process phosphoric acid process continues to dominate (accounting for over 90% of global capacity). Upgraded technologies are rapidly becoming more widespread, reducing energy consumption by over 15% and increasing phosphorus recovery rate to around 97%, gradually replacing the energy-intensive thermal phosphoric acid process.
2. Deep Integration of High Efficiency and Intelligence
High-Efficiency Resource Utilization: Breakthroughs in low-grade phosphate rock flotation and bio-phosphorus extraction technologies will increase the amount of usable phosphorus resources by 10%-15% over the next five years. Leading companies have already achieved phosphorus recovery rates of over 96%.
3. High-End and Customized Upgrades in Products and Processes
High-End Products Adapt to Demand: The proportion of new products such as controlled-release phosphate fertilizers and water-soluble phosphate fertilizers will exceed 30% by 2030, with an average annual growth rate of over 8%, meeting the needs of integrated water and fertilizer management and cash crop cultivation. The large-scale application of wet-process phosphoric acid purification technology enables the production of food-grade, electronic-grade phosphoric acid, and battery-grade iron phosphate, promoting the integrated development of "phosphate fertilizer-phosphate chemical industry-new energy." Specialized formula phosphate fertilizers are being developed based on regional soil characteristics and crop needs, expanding applications to facility agriculture and ecological restoration.
4. Industrial Intensification and Strong Policy Constraints
Capacity concentration is intensifying: production capacity is concentrating in resource-rich areas such as Guizhou, Hubei, and Yunnan, while small and medium-sized enterprises are rapidly exiting the market due to environmental and cost disadvantages. Total phosphate mining is strictly controlled at around 100 million tons; new projects must be equipped with solid waste treatment facilities; carbon emissions are included in the national carbon trading system; and environmental compliance has become the bottom line for enterprise survival.
