Egypt launched, on August 19, 2026, the construction of a phosphoric acid production complex on the Abu Tartour plateau in the Western Desert, with an investment of $658 million. Located in the New Valley Governorate, the project aims to strengthen the local transformation of phosphate and produce more high value-added goods for international markets.
The complex, led by a dedicated company, Abu Tartour for Phosphoric Acid (AT-Phos), brings together several Egyptian state-owned companies: Phosphate Misr (25% of the capital), Abu Qir Fertilizers and Chemical Industries Company (10%), and Helwan Fertilizers Company, in addition to local financial institutions such as Al Ahly Capital Holding fund and the National Investment Bank. Construction and engineering have been entrusted to Chinese groups China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) and East China Engineering Science and Technology Co (ECEC). The work, postponed several times in recent years, is expected to last 30 months.
250,000 tons per year
In its first phase, the plant is expected to produce 250,000 tons of high-concentration commercial phosphoric acid per year, mainly for the phosphate fertilizer industry.
The production will be exported through the port of Safaga on the Red Sea. For the Egyptian authorities, the objective is twofold: to better valorize an abundantly available resource and increase foreign currency revenues. The project is also expected to generate over 3,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Present at the ceremony, the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi, presented the complex as one of the major industrial projects aimed at maximizing the value of the country’s phosphate resources, and advocated a strategy to reduce the export of raw materials in favor of a local industry capable of producing higher value-added derivatives.
Egypt is betting on its reserves
The project is part of a series of investments dedicated to phosphate transformation. In April, the Indonesian group Indorama Corporation partnered with Phosphate Misr to develop an integrated complex of phosphate fertilizers and chemicals in Ain Sokhna, with an annual capacity of 600,000 tons. In November 2025, the Chinese Kunming Chuan Jin Nuo Chemical also signed an agreement with El Sewedy Industrial Development for a billion-dollar project focused on phosphoric acid and DAP and TSP fertilizers.
With approximately 2.8 billion tons of reserves, Egypt ranks third in the world, behind Morocco and China, according to the USGS. Its phosphate production reached around 16 million tons between July 2024 and April 2025, compared to 11 million tons a year earlier, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources.
The bet of Abu Tartour is thus launched: to further transform phosphate on site, develop the fertilizer industry, and make exports of processed products a new source of revenue for the Egyptian economy.
