The Laos government and Sino-Agri International Potash Co. signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on March 26 for the development of “the Asia-Potash Intelligent Circular Industrial Park” some 250 kilometers from the country’s capital, Vientiane, in Laos’ central Khammouane Province, according to a report by China’s Xinhua news agency.
Sino-Agri is a subsidiary of Asia-Potash International Investment (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd., based in China’s southern Guangdong Province, and has the right to exploit 35 square kilometers of potash salt deposits in Laos’ Khammouane Province.
The proposed park will receive about $4.31 million in investment and will be separated into three sectors, one of which will be a potash fertilizer sector that will be used to develop an industry based on local potassium ores, according to Xinhua, citing Sino-Agri Managing Director and General Manager Tong Yongheng.
According to Yongheng, the project aims to expedite the growth of the potash fertilizer industry in Laos, which is targeted to reach a production capacity of 10 million mt/y, he said.
Potash fertilizer output of Chinese companies active in Laos was 1.5 million mt in 2021, and is targeted to reach 5 million mt in 2025, according to an April 2022 report by Guosen Securities, a Chinese state-owned financial services company headquartered in Shenzhen, China.
According to Trade Data Monitor, a total of some 592,598 million mt of Laos potash was imported by various countries in 2021. Of that total, China was the biggest importer, taking 416,627 mt, increasing its imports of Laos potash to 606,987 mt in 2022. Indonesia and Thailand were the next biggest importers, both in 2021 and in 2022.
Importers of Laos Potash (mt)
| Importer | 2021 | 2022 |
| China | 416627 | 606,987 |
| Indonesia | 96,405 | 223,611 |
| Thailand | 60,664 | 63,522 |
| Malaysia | 2,310 | 43,700 |
| South Korea | 4,717 | 36,243 |
| Philippines | 9,855 | 9,919 |
| Japan | 1,060 | 8,840 |
Sino-Agri’s exploitation area in Khammouane Province has a proven K-Mg ore mf reserve of over 1 billion mt, equivalent to 152 million mt of “pure potassium chloride resources,” according to Asia-Potash International’s website.
According to Asia-Potash, the subsidiary company started construction of a 500,000 mt/y potash production project in its exploitation area after earlier completing a 100,000 mt/y potash fertilizer pilot project, and is ultimately targeting production of 1 million mt/y.
The two other sectors in the proposed industrial park will comprise “a non-potash” sector focused on “enriching resource utility with local coal, bauxite ore, and other associated resources from the potash industrial line,” Xinhua reported.
The third sector, the Asia-Potash village, aims to attract investors and talent to accelerate the urbanization of Laos. Once operational, the project is anticipated to add $320 million to Laos’ annual fiscal revenue and employ 30,000-50,000 local people, according to Xinhua.