• Indorama Corporation signed a deal to build a $525 million phosphate fertilizer complex in Egypt.

• The project will produce 600,000 tonnes annually, with 80% of output aimed at export markets.

• Egypt’s fertilizer exports reached $2.18 billion in 2024, dominated by nitrogen-based products (71%).

On April 8, Indorama Corporation signed an agreement with the Suez Canal Economic Zone Authority to establish an integrated industrial complex for phosphate fertilizers and basic chemicals.

According to a statement published on the Egyptian government’s website, the project will be developed in partnership with Misr Phosphate, a firm specializing in the extraction and marketing of phosphate rock. The agreement marks Indorama’s entry into Egypt’s fertilizer industry.

Although Indorama has operated in Egypt since 2007, the group previously focused on plastics and packaging materials manufacturing.

Initial investment plan exceeds $500 million

The company will build the fertilizer plant on a 52.2-hectare site in Ain Sokhna. The first phase of the project will mobilize an investment of $525 million.

The industrial complex will have an annual production capacity of 600,000 tonnes of phosphate fertilizers. In addition, the facility will produce associated inputs such as ammonia, sulfur, potash (potassium chloride), and urea. The plant will also manufacture specialty chemicals, including zinc sulfate, boric acid, and sodium molybdate.

The project aims to support agricultural and industrial supply chains. Moreover, the company plans to export about 80% of production, thereby strengthening Egypt’s export capacity. However, the company has not yet disclosed the construction start date or the commissioning timeline.

Once operational, the facility should increase the contribution of phosphate fertilizers, which currently remain marginal, to Egypt’s fertilizer export revenues.

Data compiled by Trade Map show that Egypt exported about $2.18 billion worth of fertilizers in 2024. Nitrogen-based fertilizers accounted for 71% of export revenues.

By contrast, phosphate fertilizers represented only 13% of revenues, followed by compound fertilizers at 9.9% and potash fertilizers at 5%. These figures highlight the growth potential of the phosphate segment.

African expansion strategy

With this project in Egypt, Indorama is strengthening its footprint in Africa’s fertilizer industry. Until now, the group operated in the sector mainly in Senegal and Nigeria.

Indorama began its fertilizer activities in Senegal in 2014 with the acquisition of Industries Chimiques du Sénégal, a producer of phosphate fertilizers. In October 2025, the company announced an investment plan of 126 billion CFA francs ($224.3 million) to expand production capacity in the country. Key projects include increasing NPK output, building a 350,000-tonne-per-year single superphosphate unit, and constructing a sulfuric acid plant with a capacity of 700 tonnes per day.

In Nigeria, Indorama entered the fertilizer market in 2016 with a nitrogen fertilizer plant in Port Harcourt, located in Rivers State. The facility initially had a production capacity of 1.4 million tonnes per year. The company launched an expansion project in 2018 to double capacity to 2.8 million tonnes by 2021. Since 2023, the company has been pursuing a new project to raise capacity to 4.2 million tonnes over time.

This article was initially published in French by Stéphanas Assocle

Adapted in English by Ange J.A de Berry Quenum