Tel Aviv — Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Vietnam’s privately-owned Duc Giang to build and expand a phosphate mine in Vietnam. ICL said the mine would serve Vietnam and the wider Southeast Asian markets. The agreement calls for the project to include a phosphate mine as well as factories to process the material in Bao Thang province in Vietnam. The production facilities would be for a variety of downstream products. The MOU is part of ICL’s strategy to increase and diversify its mining sources outside of Israel and broaden its global presence in the phosphate sector. ICL said that the planned Vietnam operations would not replace its activities in Israel, but rather strengthen its presence in the global phosphate market, especially in Asia. ICL has stepped up its search for phosphate mines outside of Israel due to concern that a planned new mine at Sde Barir may not be approved by the government because of environmental concerns. Israeli industry sources noted that ICL is currently dependent on three phosphate mines in the Negev, which could run out within ten years. They added that if the Sde Barir mine is not approved, then phosphate from Vietnam could be used to supply ICL’s fertilizer plants. Duc Giang is a producer of thermal acid and is in the process of expanding its fertilizer activities and production of phosphoric acid for the fertilizer and food industries. Vietnam’s ambassador to Israel, Ta Duy Chinh, participated at the signing ceremony. Israeli sources said this was significant as the Vietnamese government holds the rights for phosphate mining.
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