Global fertiliser prices have been on the rise. Why doesn't Australia make more of it?
The Georgina Basin stretches 330,000 square kilometres across the Northern Territory and Queensland, and contains some of the world's largest deposits of rock phosphate — a key ingredient for making fertiliser.Several Australian companies are now looking to mine phosphate, a key fertiliser ingredientThere are several resources companies in the region aiming to start up mines, and with global fertiliser prices soaring, the timing seems right.
Mr Randall, who was one of the speakers at this week's Fertilizer Australia conference in Darwin, said similar to coal exports from Australia's east and iron ore exports from WA, the Georgina Basin "would have its day" supplying rock phosphate to customers in Australia and around the world. "Australia will have the capacity to be a reliable supplier, not necessarily the cheapest, but definitely a reliable supplier of quality and low-cadmium phosphate," he said.
"Local manufacturing and sovereign capability is the holy grail [for the fertiliser industry]," he said.