Engineering & Mining Journal

JUL 2017

Engineering and Mining Journal - Whether the market is copper, gold, nickel, iron ore, lead/zinc, PGM, diamonds or other commodities, E&MJ takes the lead in projecting trends, following development and reporting on the most efficient operating pr

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PHOSPHATE JULY 2017 • E&MJ; 49 www.e-mj.com Minimized false alarms Intuitive display Vehicle-to-vehicle communication No IT infrastructure required 360° detection COLLISION AWARENESS SYSTEM www.modularmining.com/cas Warning: This Collision Awareness System (System) is designed to reduce the risk of certain accidents by providing visual and audio warnings to the driver of a potential collision. The System has limitations and cannot notify of all impending accidents. This System is not a replacement for proper safe and attentive driving. Please drive carefully at all times and do not rely on technology to prevent a collision. The System is only activated in certain circumstances and may not engage in all driving situations, weather or road conditions. Accordingly, never wait for a collision warning. The driver is always responsible for proper operation of the vehicle and for maintaining the correct distance and speed - even when the Collision Awareness System is used. Failure to comply with these instructions could result in serious injury or death. False Alarms Bugging you? YSTEM YSTEM In cab display YSTEM YSTEM YSTEM fertilizer capacity being commissioned between 2016 and 2018," he added. "This wave of oversupply is far from being over, while the cost structure of the in- dustry still features a sizeable number of high-cost producers (mainly in India and China) that could be replaced by more cost-efficient production units elsewhere when these come on stream." Chris Lawson, head of phosphate analysis at CRU, explained that the sudden fall in prices in late 2015 was triggered by increased supply in Mo- rocco and China and falling demand in India and Brazil. "China is the largest phosphate-producing country, and most of the capacity growth that occurred through the 2000s occurred in China," he stated. "Indeed, these capacity ad- ditions outpaced demand growth, and China quickly moved from being a net importer to being the largest exporter of phosphate fertilizers. "While Chinese fertilizer producers have announced industry-wide produc- tion cutbacks, prices have started to ease again over the past couple of months, as China has returned to the export market," he went on. "We expect to see further price declines for the remainder of the year and 2018, as new low-cost capacity is commissioned in Morocco and Saudi Arabia." Putting a Moroccan perspective on the situation, Lawson noted that OCP will commission its fourth Jorf Lasfar fertiliz- er-production hub (JPH-IV) in the fourth quarter of this year. JPH-I was commis- sioned in 2015, JPH-II in 2016 and JPH- III began production this March. "This wave of 'hubs' is a direct result of OCP's industrial development plan, devised in 2008," he said. "Each has the capacity to produce 1 million mt of finished phos- phate fertilizer (450,000 mt phosphoric acid) per year. "In addition to the two OCP hubs be- ing commissioned this year, there is also the Ma'aden Wa'ad Al Shamal joint ven- ture project beginning in Saudi Arabia," Lawson pointed out. "This is a joint ven- ture between Ma'aden (60%), Mosaic (25%) and SABIC (15%), and will have the capacity to produce 3 million mt/y of finished phosphate fertilizer. Commer- cial output is expected to begin in Au- gust, with product set to hit the market in September. Lawson told E&MJ; that he believes that the phosphate rock market will also remain relatively over-supplied over the coming five years. "With more low-cost integrated phosphate fertilizer produc- tion facilities coming online, demand for phosphate rock traded on the mer- chant market is set to remain steady, at best," he said. "With OCP increas- ing its rock export capacity and other projects around the world also commis- sioning (Kropz in South Africa being the most recent example), there is little upside to phosphate rock prices during this period." In the long run, of course, the world's commercial farmers will need more fer- tilizers if future demands for food are to be met. And aside from its domestic expansion, OCP is already active in the international arena through its new fertil- izer-plant joint-venture projects in Ethio- pia, Nigeria and India, and the creation of OCP Africa — tasked with marketing the company's products and services across the continent.

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