DAP and MAP: Production route
Integrated giants versus India's import-fed granulators
Integrated giants versus India's import-fed granulators What this tab covers How it is made: the main production routes or, for product families, the main product types and technologies, compared on share of supply, inputs per tonne, plant scale, yield, co-products and unit cost.All DAP and MAP comes from wet-process phosphoric acid neutralised with ammonia. What separates producers is how much of the chain they own. Integrated producers in Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Russia, China and the US mine rock, burn sulphur and sometimes make their own ammonia. Non-integrated granulators in India and elsewhere buy phosphoric acid or rock, sulphur and ammonia on world markets and are squeezed whenever those inputs spike. MAP and DAP use the same plants: MAP takes less ammonia and suits blends; DAP needs more ammonia and dominates Asian demand.
Routes compared
| Route | Share of supply | Inputs per tonne | Typical scale | Yield | Co-products | Unit cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Integrated mine-to-granule complexes (OCP, Ma'aden, Mosaic, PhosAgro, Chinese majors) | most of world trade; Morocco, China, Saudi Arabia and Russia lead exports (CRU, 2025); exact share not published | about 1.7 t rock, 0.4 t sulphur and 0.22 t ammonia per t DAP (indicative, basis: stoichiometry and phosphate tile) | Mosaic produced 6.3 Mt of phosphate products in 2025; Nutrien 1.36 Mt P2O5 at an 80% operating rate | P2O5 recovery from rock to acid about 90-95% (indicative) | phosphogypsum about 5 t per t P2O5; fluorosilicic acid; steam and power from sulphur burning | Nutrien phosphate cost of goods sold $657/t of product in 2025 against an average net selling price of $725/t; Mosaic sold DAP at $670/t FOB plant in 2025 |
| Non-integrated granulation from imported phosphoric acid (India) | India made 3.90 Mt of DAP in FY2026, about 42% of its 9.40 Mt use (Chambal MD&A) | about 0.47 t P2O5 as phosphoric acid and 0.22 t ammonia per t DAP (stoichiometry) | Paradeep Phosphates capacity 3.67 Mt a year of fertilisers; Coromandel sold 4.3 Mt of phosphatics in FY2026 | close to 100% on acid P2O5 (indicative) | none material at the granulator | set by phosphoric acid contract price: $950/t P2O5 in late 2024 rising to $1,258/t for Jul-Sep 2025 (Indian Express, 2025), plus ammonia |
| MAP and NP grades instead of DAP | not published; MAP is the main traded grade into Brazil | about 0.13 t ammonia per t MAP (stoichiometry) | same plants as DAP | as DAP | as DAP | MAP granular CFR Brazil $645-650/t (CRU, 13 Nov 2025) |
How each route works
Integrated mine-to-granule complexes (OCP, Ma'aden, Mosaic, PhosAgro, Chinese majors)Rock from the company's own mine is slurried or railed to an acid complex, digested with sulphuric acid from on-site sulphur burners, and ammoniated. Sulphur burning gives steam for power. OCP links Khouribga mines to Jorf Lasfar by slurry pipeline.
Lowest cost and secure inputs; large gypsum stacks and big capital needs.
Nutrien 2025 MD&A; Mosaic FY2025 results; USGS MCS 2026 Non-integrated granulation from imported phosphoric acid (India)Plants on India's east and west coasts buy merchant phosphoric acid (often on quarterly contracts with OCP or Jordanian JVs) and imported ammonia, then neutralise and granulate. Some, like Coromandel and Paradeep, also run their own acid units from imported rock and sulphur.
Low capital and close to farmers; margins depend on subsidy rates and on input prices set abroad.
Chambal MD&A FY2026; Indian Express via Vision IAS (Jun 2025); company results FY2026 MAP and NP grades instead of DAPThe same reactors run with less ammonia (N:P ratio about 1:1 instead of 2:1) to make MAP, or add sulphuric acid to make NPS and APS grades. Brazil and North America buy mostly MAP; India makes APS 20-20-0-13 in volume.
Uses less ammonia per unit of P; less N for crops that need it.
CRU (Nov 2025); stoichiometry Unit economics are indicative ranges from the sources named; costs move with feedstock and energy prices, plant size and region.