SAO PAULO, March 13 (Reuters) - EuroChem said on Wednesday it will inaugurate a $1 billion plant in Brazil that will manufacture fertilizers to nourish soybean, corn and sugarcane crops and produce 15% of Brazil's phosphate output.
Based in Brazil's southeastern Minas Gerais state, the plant is Swiss-headquartered EuroChem's first vertical project integrating mining, processing, production and fertilizer distribution outside Europe, it said in a statement.
Its inauguration ceremony will be attended by Brazilian officials including President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and senior members of his cabinet, it added.
The investment is a boon to Lula's government, which is trying to reduce Brazil's reliance on fertilizer imports, an initiative launched by his predecessor in 2022 amid a supply crisis sparked by the Russia-Ukraine war. Brazil currently imports about 85% of its crop nutrient needs.
EuroChem's new unit consists of an open-pit phosphate mine with more than 350 million metric tons of mineral reserves and an approximately 25 year lifespan.
The project also has a sulfuric and phosphoric acid plants, as well as acidulation and granulation units. (Reporting by Ana Mano; Editing by Steven Grattan and Alexander Smith)
