Distribution, geology and development status of phosphate resources

The world's phosphate ore reserve nearly totals 69.5 billion tons (2019), but its distribution is uneven, more than 80% of which is concentrated in North Africa. Especially, Morocco and Western Sahara are the world's richest countries in phosphate resources, with reserves of 50 billion tons in 2019, accounting for nearly 72 percent of the world's total. At present, the sedimentary phosphate deposit used in the world is the most important type, and most of these deposits were formed in two periods, Sinian-Cambrian and Mesozoic-Cenozoic. The former is represented by the large amount of Marine phosphate deposits produced in southwest China, while the latter is most typical of the North African phosphorous metallogenic province from Morocco and Western Sahara to Egypt. In 2019, the top 10 phosphorous producing countries were China, Morocco and Western Sahara, the United States, Russia, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Brazil, Egypt and Peru, with a total phosphate ore output of more than 200 million tons, accounting for 89.29 percent of the world's total. Traditionally, the United States, Russia, Morocco and China are the main exporters of phosphate rock. However, with the development of the phosphorus resources in North Africa and the Middle East, coupled with the continuous reduction of phosphate resources in traditional supply areas, North Africa and the Middle East have gradually become a production and supply center of the world. Five of the world's top 10 phosphate rock exporters in 2018 were in North Africa and the Middle East, and Morocco in North Africa is the largest phosphate rock exporter. In terms of phosphate fertilizers, in recent years, the world's importers mainly include Indonesia, Brazil, the United States, Malaysia, France, Australia, Bangladesh, Romania, Paraguay, and the Netherlands; exporters are China, Egypt, Morocco, Israel, Australia, the Netherlands, Lebanon, Mexico, Peru and Argentina, etc. The United States, which was once a major exporter of phosphate fertilizer, gradually turned into an importer after 2006; India, a big importer of phosphate ore, has basically achieved self-sufficiency in phosphate fertilizer in recent years. With its undominant phosphate ore reserves (3.2 billion tons in 2019, accounting for 4.61% of the world's reserves), China is the world's largest exporter in terms of phosphate fertilizer production in addition to meeting its own needs. In the past 10 years, its phosphate ore resources account for more than 18% of the world's total phosphate fertilizer exports. For China, phosphate ore resources consumption speed is fast, its resource situation is not optimistic.