China's Yunnan Province Aims for $16bn Phosphorus Industry in High-Value Overhaul

The industrial authority in China's southwestern Yunnan province has announced an ambitious plan to develop a modern phosphorus chemical industry valued at hundreds of billions of yuan, setting specific multi-billion-yuan output targets for the coming years.

Recently released by the Yunnan Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, the 'Implementation Plan for Promoting Efficient and High-Value Utilisation of Phosphorus Resources and Facilitating the Transformation and Upgrading of the Phosphorus Industry in Yunnan Province' proposes that the province's phosphorus chemical industry output value will exceed 100 billion yuan by 2027 and surpass 120 billion yuan by 2030.

Yunnan, which leads China in phosphorus industry scale with consistently top-ranked production volumes of phosphorite and phosphorus chemicals, has already established specialised industrial parks such as the Anning, Jinning, and Haikou Industrial Parks. These parks host leading enterprises like Yuntianhua and Yunnan Xiangfeng. However, the plan acknowledges persistent challenges, including low levels of comprehensive phosphorite utilisation, insufficient sustainable resource security, significant green development pressures, and inadequate development of high-value-added phosphorus chemicals.

In response, the province will leverage its advantages in mineral resources, energy, production capacity, and industrial foundations to foster clustered development. This strategy aims to enhance the sustainable supply of phosphate resources, improve the efficient utilisation of co-occurring and associated resources, and increase the capacity utilisation rate of products like yellow phosphorus. While ensuring stable supply and pricing of phosphate fertilisers, the plan emphasises leveraging technological innovation to address development gaps and significantly boost the supply of high-value-added products. These include high-purity phosphorus chemicals, functional phosphorus chemicals, phosphorus-based new energy battery materials, phosphorus-fluorine new materials, and novel high-efficiency phosphate fertilisers.

The Implementation Plan sets forth precise targets. By 2027, a modern phosphorus chemical industry system is to be preliminarily established. The province's phosphorus chemical output value will exceed 100 billion yuan, with the annual comprehensive utilisation rate of phosphogypsum reaching 80% or higher. The sector will cultivate at least five 'little giant' enterprises-specialised, refined, distinctive, and innovative firms-over 35 specialised SMEs of the same nature, and more than 120 industrial enterprises above designated size. One world-class phosphorus chemical enterprise with industrial leadership and global competitiveness is also slated for development.

By 2030, the output value target rises to over 120 billion yuan. The sector is expected to feature over eight 'small giant' enterprises, over 45 specialised SMEs, and over 150 industrial enterprises above designated size, forming at least five distinct phosphorus chemical industrial clusters.

The plan outlines three primary development directions, signalling a clear prioritisation of high-value-added fine phosphorus chemicals. First, it aims to bolster the new energy battery sector by vertically integrating the 'phosphate rock-phosphoric acid-iron phosphate-lithium iron phosphate (sodium iron phosphate)' chain. Second, it calls for vigorously expanding the high-value-added phosphorus chemical industry chain, establishing a product system centred on high-purity chemicals and phosphorus-based functional materials. Third, it emphasises intensifying the recovery and utilisation of fluorine and silicon resources associated with phosphate ore deposits.

To achieve these goals, the document details seven key tasks, systematically mapping development pathways across areas including technological innovation, resource supply, structural adjustment, and green safety.

Significantly, the plan imposes strict capacity controls. It stipulates that, except for relocation and transformation projects meeting specific criteria, no new production capacity for yellow phosphorus, ammonium phosphate, or calcium hydrogen phosphate shall be added. This is intended to ensure the achievement of 'source reduction' targets for phosphogypsum. Based on resource endowments, specialised chemical industrial parks will continue to be established, with enterprises located outside these parks encouraged to relocate into them.

The plan also incorporates a major recent discovery, highlighting that the recent find of Asia's largest single-ore-body high-grade phosphate deposit in Zhenxiong will be leveraged. Yunnan will advance the high-standard development of the Zhenxiong Phosphorus-Based New Materials Industrial Cluster, planning and constructing a modern industry system encompassing 'mining and beneficiation-deep processing-new materials'. This effort includes accelerating infrastructure in the Zhenxiong Chemical Industrial Park and expediting the completion and full production capacity of the Wanchang Phosphate Mine's 5 million tonnes per year mining project (Phase I).

Finally, the Implementation Plan outlines five safeguarding measures designed to bolster industrial development through enhanced working mechanisms, resource allocation, financial support, talent retention, and industrial ecosystem cultivation.