Phosphorus

Phosphorus is a reactive, non-metal element commonly found in phosphate rock. It is essential for plant growth and is used mainly in the production of fertilisers. On Metalshub, however, phosphorus is bought and sold for the iron & steel industry. The leading producers of phosphorus are China, Morocco, and the United States.

Sub-Category	Abbreviation	Core Content Range	Size Range
Ferrophosphorus	FeP	P 0-100%	0-250 mm
Phosphates		Various	n/a

Please note that the above listed sub-categories including its core content and size ranges are just a snapshot of Metalshub’s currently traded raw materials. We are adding new sub-categories on a monthly basis and would be happy to assess your specific requirements to this category.

Metalshub provides producers and consumers of phosphorus with a software solution to improve the way they buy or sell it. Our software connects over 2,000 companies in a joint trading network. This allows sellers to discover new buyers of phosphorus and buyers to discover new suppliers of phosphorus.

For buyers, Metalshub’s Procurement Solution allows steel mills, foundries, and other consumers to digitalise their procurement process in order to increase sourcing efficiency, ensure compliant buying, and take data-driven decisions. For sellers, Metalshub’s Sales Solution allows miners, traders, and other sellers to digitalise their sales process, manage inventory, and optimise their sales book.

Prices for ferrophosphorus are available from multiple industry platforms, including:

1. Asian Metal: They provide journalistic pricing data for ferrophosphorus, tracking global markets like China. They also offer insights into market trends, trade data, and key developments in ferrophosphorus demand across industries ​(Asian Metal)​.

Beyond this, other providers may also provide prices.

The leading producers of phosphorus are:

• China – ~45% of global phosphorus production
• Morocco – ~15% of global phosphorus production
• United States – ~<15% of global phosphorus production
• Russia – ~<10% of global phosphorus production
• Jordan – ~5% of global phosphorus production

Some of the key producers of phosphorus include:

• OCP Group (Morocco) – ~20% of global phosphorus production, the largest exporter of phosphate rock
• Mosaic (USA) – ~15%, a major producer of phosphorus for fertilisers
• Yunnan Phosphate Chemical Group (China) – ~<15% of global production
• PhosAgro (Russia) – ~10% of global production
• Jordan Phosphate Mines Company (Jordan) – ~<10% of global production

Phosphorus is mined primarily from phosphate rock through open-pit mining operations. The rock is crushed and refined to extract phosphate, which is then processed into phosphorus compounds or elemental phosphorus.

Phosphorus is mainly used in fertiliser production (~80%), where it helps promote plant growth and increase crop yields. It is also used in the chemical industry (~10%) for producing detergents, industrial chemicals, and pesticides. In steelmaking (~5%), phosphorus is used as an alloying element to increase strength and hardness as well as to improve corrosion resistance as well as machinability.