Gulf states' annual fertiliser production tops 32m tonnes

The fertilizer industry in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council bloc has witnessed a significant rise recently, with 11 companies contributing 32 million tonnes a year, a leading petrochemicals official said on Thursday. Over 80 pct of this production - most of which is nitrogen-based (ammonia and urea) - is exported due to the scarcity of agricultural land in the region, said Secretary General of the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) Abdulwahab Al-Saadoun. Phosphate fertilizer has also entered the fray, with Saudi Arabia producing around 3.5 million tonnes annually, he told reporters at a GPCA-organised workshop on safety hosted by Kuwait's Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC). There are further plans for the production of this specific type, which represents about 13 pct of total fertilizer production in the six states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.