By Roberto Samora
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – The EuroChem group, a global fertilizer supplier headquartered in Switzerland, on Thursday said it will start production of phosphate fertilizers in the first quarter of 2024 in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais.
The announcement was made after the company obtained an operating license for a chemical plant in the vicinity of the Serra do Salitre mine.
Eurochem said this is its first mining unit outside the European continent.
The company says it will produce around 1 million tons of phosphate fertilizers per year in Brazil, which represents 15% of national production.
“The operating license is a fundamental step towards
transforming EuroChem into an important group in fertilizer production in Brazil and in South America,” Gustavo Horbach, EuroChem’s South America CEO, was quoted as saying in a statement.
The company has invested $1 billion in the project, which it says will contribute to reducing Brazil’s dependence fertilizers imports.
The South American nation, a farm powerhouse, imports around 85% of its fertilizer needs.
(Reporting by Roberto Samora; Writing by Ana Mano; Editing by Aurora Ellis)