Phosphate mine production limited, yellow phosphorus prices continue to rise

Yellow phosphorus, also known as white phosphorus, has a chemical formula of P₄. It appears as a light yellow or white translucent solid. It is soft and brittle when cold. It becomes darker when exposed to light. It produces blue-green phosphorescence and white smoke when exposed to the air and in the dark. It can directly Dissolves with halogens, sulfur and other chemicals; highly toxic, with a lethal dose of about 0.1 grams. It is stored in cold water in the laboratory; often used in chemical weapons, preparation of phosphoric acid and its compounds, preparation of pesticides, fertilizers and other fields.

The yellow phosphorus production process mainly includes electric furnace method and blast furnace method. The industrial production of yellow phosphorus mostly adopts the electric furnace method, that is, phosphate rock, silica, and coke are put into the electric furnace in a certain proportion and particle size, and then decomposition and reduction reactions occur at a high temperature of 1000°C, and then the phosphorus steam and furnace dust obtained by the reaction are The material is cooled and rinsed to obtain yellow phosphorus. Therefore, in the production process of yellow phosphorus, phosphate rock is one of its essential raw materials. my country is a country with large reserves of phosphate rock. Domestic phosphate rock resources mainly exist in the form of sedimentary marine phosphate rock, which are mainly distributed in Yunnan, Hubei, Guizhou, Hunan, Sichuan and other regions. Among them, Hubei’s phosphate rock reserves rank first in the country at 6.34 billion tons; followed by Yunnan and Guizhou. Hunan and Sichuan have relatively small phosphate rock reserves.

Thanks to sufficient phosphorus ore resources, my country’s yellow phosphorus production enterprises are mainly concentrated in the southwestern region of Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and other southwestern regions. At this stage, my country’s larger yellow phosphorus production companies include Hubei Xingfa Chemical Industry Group Co., Ltd., Yunnan Mile Phosphorus Electrochemical Co., Ltd., Yunnan Jiang Phosphorus Group Co., Ltd., Leibo Kairui Phosphorus Chemical Co., Ltd., Sichuan Provincial Sichuan Investment Chemical Industry Group Co., Ltd., Chenggong Phosphating Co., Ltd., etc. Among them, Yunnan, with its abundant supply of phosphate ore resources, has large-scale yellow phosphorus production enterprises such as Jiang Phosphorus Group and Maitreya Phosphorus Electricity, which play an important role in the national yellow phosphorus production market. According to the “2022-2027 China Yellow Phosphorus Industry Market Supply and Demand Status and Development Trend Forecast Report span>” shows that in 2021, the production scale of yellow phosphorus in Yunnan will be 240,000 tons, accounting for 35% of the national yellow phosphorus market share.

In the past two years, due to the release of dual energy consumption control and a series of policies to limit yellow phosphorus production capacity and output, coupled with the rising demand for downstream lithium batteries and fertilizers, the price of yellow phosphorus has been rising. In particular, in April this year, the National Development and Reform Commission issued the “Guiding Opinions on Promoting High-Quality Development of the Petrochemical and Chemical Industry during the “14th Five-Year Plan””. The “Opinions” clearly stated that new production capacity of yellow phosphorus and other enterprises should be strictly controlled. The release of this policy intensified Yellow phosphorus companies have suspended and reduced production, causing the already high prices of yellow phosphorus and phosphate ores to soar, and the market trend continues to rise.

Industrial researchers believe that due to the improvement in the prosperity of downstream industries such as chemical fertilizers, the demand for yellow phosphorus will also increase, but it will be affected by the national ability. Affected by factors such as dual consumption control and yellow phosphorus enterprise production restrictions, reduced phosphate ore mining, and low market inventories, the market price of yellow phosphorus will continue to increase, and the market upward trend will continue for some time.