Can China achieve potash self-sufficiency?
Summary Self-sufficiency in all major nutrients has long been the official goal. Potash remains the final frontier in that respect. How far can the countrys indigenous resources help close the gap between domestic demand and supply, and what are the implications for the current leading suppliers to this keystone market? Abstract China is today the world’s largest consumer of potash but its lack of sufficient potash resources requires it to import between 8-9 million t/a. China’s output of potash has averaged around 3 million t/a in recent years and meets just 30% of domestic needs. The huge gap between the supply and demand of a strategic material has exercised the minds of the Chinese authorities, which have attached great importance to the development, utilisation and procurement of potash resources. Priority is being given to raising the domestic industry’s output, but the authorities recognise that a gulf continues to exist between the Chinese potash industry and the leading inter
