China’s phosphorus chemical industry is moving toward “quality-driven development”

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From April 28 to 29, 400 representatives from various sectors within the phosphorus chemical industry across the country, as well as related fields, gathered in Kunming, located in the southern part of China, to attend the 2026 China Inorganic Salt Industry Association Phosphorus Chemical Industry Development Conference. Ye Lijun, Secretary-General of the China Inorganic Salt Industry Association, noted while presiding over the meeting that amid the unprecedented changes of the past century, global industrial and supply chains are being rapidly restructured, while geopolitical conflicts and trade frictions are intensifying. In particular, the conflicts in the Middle East have caused significant fluctuations in various sectors such as the global petrochemical industry, affecting the supply of chemical resources like sulfur. The imbalance between supply and demand has led to soaring prices, further increasing the instability and uncertainty in the world economy. At the same time, the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation is advancing at an accelerated pace, with artificial intelligence technologies being widely applied, which presents new trends, challenges, and opportunities for China’s phosphate chemical industry. The phosphate chemical industry is a vital sector related to food security, energy development, and people’s well-being. The entire industry must firmly implement the new development philosophy, persist in fostering a new development pattern, and make unremitting efforts to elevate the innovative development of the phosphate chemical industry to new heights, thereby cultivating new productive forces for the phosphate chemical industry in the new era. Zeng Jiaqi, deputy general manager of Yuntianhua Group Co., Ltd., pointed out that the phosphorus chemicals industry is related to **food security and has an impact on the development of new energy materials. In the new era and under new circumstances, with the rapid development of new energy materials, phosphorus resources are rapidly emerging as \"strategic minerals\" for global energy transition. The phosphorus chemicals industry is facing unprecedented challenges and opportunities. Accelerating the transformation and upgrading of the entire phosphorus chemicals industry chain, promoting technological innovation and its application, and achieving green and sustainable development of phosphorus resources have become key issues that the entire industry must consider carefully and address proactively. Yuntianhua is willing to deepen cooperation with upstream and downstream enterprises, universities, research institutions, and scientific research bodies. Together, we will pool our efforts to overcome challenges in areas such as technology research and development, standard setting, production capacity coordination, and international expansion, so as to jointly make Yunnan a global hub for the phosphorus chemical industry and new energy materials derived from phosphorus. Wang Xiaofeng, President of the China Inorganic Salt Industry Association, said that Yunnan is a major province in terms of phosphorus resources in China. By the end of 2025, the proven reserves of phosphate rock in the province reached 4.63 billion tons. Led by leading enterprises such as Yuntianhua, a complete industrial chain has been established; the production of yellow phosphorus and other products ranks first in the country. The province’s phosphate chemical industry is on its way to reaching a value of 100 billion yuan, providing valuable \"Yunnan experience\" for the efficient utilization of phosphate resources across the nation. Wang Xiaofeng pointed out that China’s phosphorus chemical industry is at a crucial stage of transitioning from “scale leadership” to “quality leadership”. On the one hand, the entire industry must adhere to innovation-driven development in order to establish a \"core engine\" for industrial upgrading. Focusing on key technical bottlenecks such as the efficient extraction of phosphate rocks, the advanced purification of wet-process phosphoric acid, and the high-value utilization of phosphogypsum, we will strengthen the role of enterprises as innovation drivers, establish a collaborative innovation system, and promote integration among industry, academia, research, and application. Intensify research and development of phosphorus-based new energy materials, break through “bottleneck” technologies, and enhance competitiveness. On the other hand, we must deepen the green transition and foster a “ecological foundation” for sustainable development. Implement policies for the protective exploitation of phosphate mines, promote comprehensive utilization technologies, and improve the levels of the three key indicators in mines. Promote the treatment and utilization of phosphogypsum, accelerate the industrialization of related technologies, and achieve the goals for comprehensive utilization. Promote industrial coupling, establish a circular economy model, and achieve the integration of economic, ecological, and social benefits. Secondly, it is necessary to optimize the industrial ecosystem and establish a \"win-win framework\" for coordinated development. Leverage resources to increase industrial concentration and foster a tier of high-quality enterprises. Strengthen regional and international cooperation to expand channels for securing phosphate rock resources and markets for high-end products. Using this conference as a platform, we aim to facilitate technological exchanges, project matchmaking, and information sharing, thereby fostering a collective development effort among all links of the industrial chain. Yang Huachun, director of Duofluoride New Materials Co., Ltd., pointed out in the report that fluorine materials are **key basic materials for strategic emerging industries; they constitute a core strategic resource for ensuring the self-reliance and controllability of industrial and supply chains, as well as for facilitating the high-end, intelligent, and green transformation of the manufacturing sector.** China has established a complete industrial chain for fluorine materials; however, it also faces practical challenges such as a shortage of core technologies, reliance on imports for high-end products, and an urgent need to optimize its industrial structure. DFD will operate from a strategic perspective, using the Fluorine-Based New Materials Innovation Center as its core platform. Following the industrial upgrading path of “phosphorus-fluorine integration and resource synergy”, it will focus on key areas such as the green and efficient recycling of resources, the development of high-end specialty fluorine-based materials, and the localization of core equipment. By closely collaborating with industry, academia, research institutions, and end-users, DFD aims to foster an open and collaborative innovation ecosystem. This will facilitate deeper integration and high-quality development of the phosphorus and fluorine industries, while guiding the sector toward a transformation characterized by technological leadership, green and low-carbon practices, and the integration of digital and intelligent technologies—ultimately establishing a new industrial paradigm for coordinated phosphorus-fluorine development. Professor Mei Yi, Director of the Key Laboratory of Energy Conservation and New Materials for Phosphorus Chemical Industry in Yunnan Province at Kunming University of Science and Technology, believes that with the rapid development of battery materials, the demand for industrial phosphoric acid has increased significantly. In 2025, China’s output of wet-process phosphoric acid is expected to reach nearly 22 million tons (calculated as 100% P₂O₅), while the output of yellow phosphorus will be 1 million tons. The production volume of industrial phosphoric acid is projected at 4.2 million tons (calculated as 85% H₃PO₄). Entering 2026, sulfur prices have surpassed the historical high of 6,000 yuan per ton; it is unlikely that they will fall below 4,000 yuan in the short term. The cost of industrially produced phosphoric acid via the wet process is higher than that produced through the thermal process ； The combination of heat and moisture will be the long-term development trend for industrial phosphoric acid. Mei Yi said that in the future, the key to reducing costs and increasing efficiency in the production of wet-process industrial phosphoric acid lies in the utilization of phosphogypsum; by implementing a sulfur cycle for phosphogypsum and making efficient use of calcium, it is possible to reduce the costs associated with purifying phosphoric acid ； The focus of thermal phosphoric acid production is to improve its quality by applying the latest technologies and maximizing the recovery of the reaction heat generated during its production. This ensures a supply of high-quality raw materials for the food, pharmaceutical, battery, and high-purity electronic chemical industries, while reducing energy consumption throughout the thermal phosphorus chemical industry chain. Li Ye, deputy director of the Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction Research Center at the Petroleum and Chemical Industry Planning Institute and secretary-general of the Bromine, Iodine and Their Compounds Branch of the China Inorganic Salt Industry Association, pointed out that various inorganic salts such as potassium, phosphorus, lithium, boron, fluorine, barium, strontium, bromine, and iodine serve as key basic raw materials in China’s industries including agriculture, new energy, electronics, and pharmaceuticals. The security of these industrial chains is directly related to China’s food security, energy security, and the safety of its industrial supply chains. At present, China’s key inorganic salt industry chain is characterized by a shortage of core resources, a high degree of dependence on imports, and increased supply chain volatility due to international geopolitical conflicts. The industry faces issues such as overcapacity in low-end production, insufficient supply of high-end products, uneven application of green and low-carbon technologies, low utilization rates of medium- and low-grade resources, and a need to strengthen its resource acquisition efforts overseas. To strengthen the security framework of the inorganic salt industry chain, Li Ye put forward five development suggestions. First, it is necessary to strengthen the capacity to ensure a stable supply of resources by increasing domestic exploration and development of relevant minerals, continuously improving lithium extraction technologies from salt lakes, breaking through key technologies such as bromine extraction from seawater and iodine extraction from pharmaceutical wastewater, advancing the development of high-end products made from barium and strontium, and enhancing the overall efficiency of resource utilization. Second, by focusing on the countries along the **Belt and Road Initiative**, we will accelerate the establishment of overseas production facilities, develop diversified import channels, and enhance our capacity for supply chain assurance. Third, it is to promote the high-end upgrading of the industry, extend the industrial chains for phosphorus, fluorine, etc., develop high-end products, and drive the industry’s transformation from low-end manufacturing to higher-value production. Fourth, deepen the green and low-carbon transformation, promote cleaner production processes, improve the comprehensive utilization system for solid wastes such as phosphogypsum, and encourage enterprises to build smart factories and zero-carbon industrial parks in order to reduce energy consumption and emissions per unit of output. Fifth, it is necessary to improve the risk prevention and control system, increase efforts in the research and development of core technologies, and strengthen international technological cooperation.