Belgian phosphate producer EcoPhos has signed a joint venture agreement with Egypt’s Evergrow to build a dicalcium phosphate (DCP) plant as part of a 50:50 joint venture. The jv will construct a plant in Sadat City, 95 km from Cairo, to produce 110,000 t/y DCP for animal feed. The complex will also comprise plants to produce 100,000 t/y low-cadmium fertilizer, 198,000 t/y sulfuric acid and 60,000 t/y calcium chloride.  Investment costs are estimated at $120 million.

EcoPhos will provide the technology, detailed engineering and equipment for the project. The Louvain-la-Neuve-based company added that it is also planning further investment in an NPK plant, but gave no further details. The DCP output will be sold and distributed by Aliphos, EcoPhos’ feed ingredients division. EcoPhos acquired Aliphos from Tessenderlo of the Netherlands in November 2013, gaining a production site in Rotterdam and sales offices in Germany, Spain and Poland.

EcoPhos also started construction of a new phosphate plant in Dunkirk, France, in March this year. An investment of €75 million is being made in the facility, which will start production at the end of 2017. Additional land has been reserved nearby for a possible future expansion. In addition, a fourth phosphate plant with a capacity of 200,000 t/y is planned to open in Dahej, India, in late 2018. This plant is being built in a joint venture with Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals.

EcoPhos has also revealed that other projects are in the pipeline in countries including Brazil, Senegal, Jordan and Morocco. The company has stated its ambition to become Europe’s leading producer of feed phosphate for livestock, targeting an annual output of 1 million t/y at five plants in five countries by 2020, with a turnover of €500 million.

In September, EcoPhos opened a center of excellence, called Technophos and a pilot plant in Varna, Bulgaria. It said the center is the product of its efforts to combine technology, ecology and economy to fight against the world’s phosphate scarcity and potential global food crisis.