Pakistan’s Fauji Fertilizer Co. (FFC) plans to set up a new DAP plant in a move that would boost local production and reduce imports.
To facilitate the new project, the Fauji Group has approached the country’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources seeking a government commitment for the supply of 30 mm cubic feet/d of natural gas at a concessionary rate for the first 10 years, according to a report by Pakistan’s The Express Tribune. The 30 mm cubic feet/d of gas would support an annual DAP production capacity of 1 million mt, according to the report.
Sister company Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim Ltd. (FFBL), in which FFC holds a 49.88 percent stake, already operates a DAP plant, as well as granular urea production facilities, at Port Qasim, Karachi, and is currently Pakistan’s only producer of DAP.
The Fauji Group produced 750,000 mt of DAP last year, according to the report. According to Green Markets‘ data, output reached 830,000 mt in 2019. The balance of the country’s DAP requirements is met through imports.
In the first 10 months of last year, Pakistan imported 834,074 mt of DAP and 1.25 million mt in full-year 2019, down from 1.9 million mt in full-year 2018, according to Trade Data Monitor. But the country’s current DAP demand is reported to be running between 2.2-2.5 million mt/y.
Chinese DAP recently has taken the biggest share of the Pakistan import market, accounting for close to 80 percent in 2019. However, Moroccan and Saudi Arabian product made marked in-roads in the first 10 months of 2020.
FFBL’s DAP plant receives its phosphoric acid requirements from Pakistan Maroc Phosphore, a joint venture with Morocco’s OCP group. The plant, based at Jorf Lasfar in Morocco, is designed to produce 375,000 mt/y of phosphoric acid, meeting the entire phosphoric acid requirement of Fauji’s DAP plant. Surplus acid currently is sold in the international market, but potentially could be diverted to the new DAP facility.
Fauji’s proposal for the new DAP plant now has been submitted to Pakistan’s Economic Coordination Committee for consideration, according to the report.
According to The Express Tribune, after the new DAP facility is commissioned, only the country’s state-owned Trading Corp. would be allowed to import any remaining shortfall to maintain stability of prices.
Pakistan DAP imports (‘000 mt)
| Country of origin | Jan-Oct 2020 | Jan-Oct 2019 |
| China | 537,810 | 742,034 |
| Morocco | 158,432 | 110,750 |
| Saudi Arabia | 72,721 | 0 |
| Australia | 17,099 | 96,851 |
| Tunisia | 42,020 | 0 |
| Russia | 5,970 | 0 |
| Total imports | 834,074 | 949,635 |
Data source: Trade Data Monitor