Centrex Limited (ASX: CXM) has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Agriflex Pty Ltd, has exported its first shipment of phosphate rock to a substantial customer in South Korea.
The shipment represents the first time an Australian company has supplied phosphate to the Asian market.
The 15,000t shipment is headed to a sizeable commercial fertilizer-producer customer of Samsung C&T and represents a further step forward in Centrex realizing its potential as a mass exporter of some of the highest quality phosphate in the world.
In February this year, Centrex signed a binding marketing services agreement with Samsung C&T for the sale of phosphate rock from its Ardmore Phosphate Rock Mine situated just south of Mt. Isa in northwest Queensland. The agreement covered the appointment of Samsung C&T as the sole and exclusive agent for sales into the large markets of Korea, Japan, Indonesia, India, Mexico, and Taiwan with 20% of total production at Ardmore allocated under the arrangement.
Centrex Managing Director, Robert Mencel, said that the shipment to Asia is remarkable under the circumstances, “China is the world’s largest producer of phosphate however phosphate rock supplies up to the quality of Centrex’s phosphate rock product are not yet widely available on the Asian continent.”
“We have the utmost confidence that this shipment will open doors for us in the Asian market on account of the quality of our product. Not only is it a very high-grade phosphate rock but it is also very low in Cadmium, a toxic chemical which can be concentrated in crops and cause health problems.”
Australia and New Zealand combined import around one million tonnes of high-grade phosphate rock each year, mainly from Africa.
Centrex exported two large shipments of phosphate rock to New Zealand in the fourth quarter of 2022, heralding the arrival of Australia’s newest export industry. It has so far shipped a total of 59,290t of phosphate rock to clients in Australia, New Zealand, and now South Korea.
To find out more, please visit www.centrexlimited.com.au
