Minister of Energy and Mines, Mohamed Arkab affirmed today, Tuesday, here in Algiers, that the fertilizer industry is witnessing a new start in Algeria, thanks to the launch of major structural projects during 2022.
In a speech delivered during the opening of the 34th International Technical Conference of the Arab Fertilizer Association, the minister said that Algeria has launched major structural projects this year, especially the integrated phosphate project and the food phosphate project.
The integrated phosphate project allows extracting and processing 10 million tons of raw phosphate, and converting 1.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas to produce about 6 million tons of fertilizers annually, according to the minister.
While the second project includes the completion of an industrial complex to convert 700,000 tons of processed phosphate to produce food phosphate, phosphate fertilizers and other chemicals, according to the explanations given by Mr. Arkab in the presence of several Arab and international delegations.
Work is underway to launch other projects in this field with the aim of diversifying the national economy, and in support of Algerian agriculture, which receives special attention from the President of the Republic, according to the minister, who confirmed that Algeria is working to achieve record production in 2023, especially in the grain branch, in order to ensure food security.
Mr. Arkab indicated that today, Algeria exports 7 million tons of manufactured fertilizers and semi-finished materials, including 3 million tons of urea, 2 million tons of processed phosphate and 2 million tons of ammonia.
Algeria also produces hundreds of thousands of types of nitrogenous and phosphate fertilizers, in order to keep pace with the unprecedented agricultural renaissance that the country is witnessing,” the minister says, recalling that in the early sixties, Algeria laid the first and basic building blocks for the fertilizer industry, by establishing two factories for the production of ammonia and fertilizers in Annaba and Arzew.
It’s worth recalling that the organization of this conference coincides with Algeria’s celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of the recovery of national sovereignty, which emphasizes the position of the Arab countries, peoples and leaders, alongside the Algerian people in their struggle during the revolution of November 1954,” the minister adds.
