ICL Invests In Chinese Phosphates

Israeli fertilizer and chemical maker ICL is placing a $500 million bet on the Chinese fertilizer market. For that amount, the company will get a 15% stake in the fertilizer giant Yunnan Yuntianhua and a 50% stake in a Yunnan phosphates complex. Yunnan operates a 2.5 million-metric-ton-per-year phosphate rock mine as well as downstream plants that make sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, phosphate fertilizers, and specialty phosphates. The partners intend to invest $170 million with the aim of increasing the phosphate complex’s annual sales from $500 million today to $700 million over the next five years. ICL says the acquisition is part of its strategy to expand into the developing world. Separately, Brazilian regulators have approved ICL’s $52 million purchase of a 44% stake in the Brazilian purified phosphoric acid maker Fosbrasil.