Brazil’s Galvani Fertilizantes has secured a license from Bahia that will allow it to begin work on installing the phosphate processing unit at Irecê, according to a bnamericas report, citing the company. According to the report, Galvani will now carry out the necessary studies to obtain the operating license, with the start of operations targeted for 2026.
Galvani expects to invest R$340 million (approximately $68.5 million at current exchange rates) in the project. The phosphate will be transported to the company’s Luis Eduardo Magalhães fertilizer plant in Bahia, Galvani Fertilizantes CEO Marcos Stelzer said in a September 2022 interview with Bloomberg (GM Sept. 23, 2022).
Galvani is looking to double production to 1.2 million mt/y at the Luis Eduardo Magalhães plant in a R$200 million project. The investments are part of a R$2.54 billion program by the company through 2026 to expand fertilizer production and phosphate mining areas. Some R$2 billion will go to the Santa Quitéria phosphate-uranium project in Ceará state.
The investments are part of efforts to reduce dependence on fertilizer imports. The Galvani family retained the Luis Eduardo Magalhães production unit and the mining units in Angico dos Dias in Bahia, as well as the Santa Quitéria project, when it sold its minority stake in Galvani Indústria to Yara International ASA in 2018 (GM Oct. 19, 2028).