The African phosphate market is the second in the world, accounting for 22 pc of the world’s phosphate-based fertilizers. The growing demand for phosphate-based fertilisers will push the phosphate chemical reagents market to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 10.1 pc upto 2016.
According to a Frost & Sullivan analysis, the revenues of the South African and Moroccan phosphate chemical reagents market are expected to reach $1.96 billion in 2016.
The market in both South Africa and Morocco is growing by volume and revenue, due to increased phosphate mining activities and the soaring demand for phosphate-based fertilizers.
“The lack of effective substitutes for phosphates will ensure a constant increase in demand for this raw material for use in fertilizers,” said Frost & Sullivan’s Chemicals Materials & Food research analyst, Dilshaad Booley.
“In Africa, nearly 85 pc of phosphates mining are used to produce phosphate-based fertilisers.”
As the population is growing in Africa, there will be greater demand for food which will lead to greater use of fertilisers in agriculture in a bid to reach self-sufficiency in food production.
However, the lack of adequate government subsidies for farmers is affecting the growth of fertilizer’ market. In most cases, the prices are too high for farmers who often find themselves unable to use the recommended quantities of fertilizers for maximum product output.
According to experts, South Africa and Morocco need to offer fertiliser subsidies to farmers so that they can improve productivity and offer cheap crops. Otherwise, local farmers will seek discount fertilizers on the international market, as this sector is deregulated. This means this industry is open to international competition, which is a risky business for home-grown African fertilizers.
