China-headquartered contractor East China Engineering Science & Technology Company (ECEC) has started construction for a $2bn phosphate fertiliser complex in Iraq’s western desert region of Al-Qaim.

Doha Jabbouri, spokesperson for Iraq’s Ministry of Industry & Mineral Resources, told the state-run Iraqi News Agency that construction is ongoing and the project will utilise the Al-Anbar region’s phosphate reserves, which are estimated at over 10 billion tonnes.

In May last year, Iraq’s Minister of Industry & Mineral Resources, Khaled Al-Najm, laid the foundation stone for the project, which will produce 1 million tonnes of diammonium phosphate (DAP) and 500,000 tonnes of triple super phosphate (TSP) annually once operational.

In May 2024, the ministry signed agreements with Iraqi, UAE and US companies to develop sulphur and fertiliser plants.

UAE-based ARJ Holding signed an agreement with the ministry to establish a phosphate fertiliser production plant in Baiji with a capacity of 249,000 tonnes a year (t/a).

Separately, the state-owned Mishraq Sulphur State Company (MSSC) signed an agreement with an unidentified US company to establish a 2.5 million t/a sulphur plant in the Al-Zaka field in Nineveh governorate.

MSSC also inked an agreement with Iraqi Al-Rafidain Company for the rehabilitation of a 1.5 million t/a sulphur production line in Mosul.