Local consumption of phosphate in Syria amounts to 600 to 700 thousand tons. It is mainly used at the Homs fertilizer factory to manufacture phosphoric acid and triple super phosphate fertilizer. Syria exports 3.2 million tons of this fertilizer, while the rest is used locally.
According to the state-run SANA news agency, the General Company of Phosphate and Mines is currently studying the possibility of developing and increasing phosphate production. The Company mines raw phosphate from two main mines: Khneifees and al-Sharqiya. They have a production capacity of 2,650,000 tons, 800,000 of which is produced in Khneifees while the rest are mined from the Sharqiya A and B mines. The known reserves of phosphate exceed 2 billion tons.
80% of phosphate products are exported after being transported via trains to Tartous port, some 265 kilometers from the mines. The processed phosphate is exported mainly to Turkey, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Poland.
Up to the second quarter of 2009, the Company produced 972,702 tons with a 52% accomplishment ratio of its target – 1,884,500 tons. The Company also produced 37,674 tons of rock salt out of the planned 40,300 tons, and 678,956 tons of quartz sand out of the planned 705,000 tons.
During the same period, the Company sold 925,085 tons out of the planned 1.837,200 tons, and sold 37,611 tons of rock salt, achieving 202% of its investment plan.
