Questions regarding the feasibility of diammonium phosphate

Most of the sulfuric acid industry is consumed by the phosphate and fertilizer industry, other fertilizer industries, and the fluorine chemical industry. Due to severe water shortages, it is indeed very difficult to build facilities for producing ammonia synthesis products, phosphoric acid, and ammonium phosphate, as these industries are highly water-intensive and require large amounts of cooling water and steam. Even when producing other chemical products, water is still needed; the chemical industry is a major water consumer.

I think if sulfuric acid is available, then there are already facilities for producing it; in that case, it’s also possible to build facilities for producing synthetic ammonia and ammonium phosphate, although more investment would be required for water treatment and water recycling systems.

1 Ammonium monophosphate: Due to weak demand from downstream compound fertilizers and poor sales, transaction volume in the domestic ammonium monophosphate market has declined. As of May 2009, the prevailing arrival price for 55% powdered ammonium phosphate was 1650–1700 yuan per ton; the arrival price for 55% granular ammonium phosphate was 1700–1750 yuan per ton. The price for 58% large-granule ammonium phosphate was 1850 yuan per ton. Around May Day, the mainstream price of monoammonium phosphate in China dropped by nearly 50 yuan per ton. Due to poor market sales, the overall operational rate of the enterprise is only around 50%. Moreover, as market demand continues to slow down, the overall operating rate of ammonium phosphate has so far dropped to 20-30%. 2. Ammonium diphosphate: In recent years, China’s apparent annual consumption of diammonium phosphate has remained around 6 million tons, while the country’s annual production capacity for this compound is approximately 10 million tons. The current market situation is one of supply exceeding demand. The domestic production of diammonium phosphate is expected to be around 7.5 million tons this year, while the market demand this year is only 5.5 million tons. Currently, the price limit for diammonium phosphate is 4,100 yuan per ton, while the cost of diammonium phosphate exceeds 4,700 yuan per ton; as a result, many domestic companies experience a situation where their production costs are higher than their selling prices. Phosphorus compound fertilizer manufacturers are unable to shift to other production areas like nitrogen fertilizer companies, and the significant increase in export tariffs has created an unprecedentedly severe crisis for the phosphorus compound fertilizer industry. At present, most enterprises in Yunnan and Guizhou, which account for 30% of the country’s phosphate compound fertilizer production, are operating at a loss, with some having reduced production or ceased operations.

Currently, the sales of monoammonium phosphate and diammonium phosphate are both very good. Especially monoammonium, given the current low price of sulfur. Most are sulfur-based acid production projects, with extremely high profits. The production of ammonium phosphate is not a problem in the presence of sulfuric acid. I’m not sure what the situation is with synthetic ammonia.