Raw Materials & Material Extraction

ICL is built around three main minerals – potash, bromine and phosphate, which are the main raw materials for most of the downstream products along the integrated value chains that we developed throughout the years. This allows us to add value and strengthen the balance in our businesses.

ICL produces a significant portion of its primary raw materials, including
potash and phosphorus, through its mining operations located in Israel, China, Spain and the UK. Primary raw materials acquired from external sources include sulfur and ammonia.

The principal raw materials used by ICL Industrial Products for the manufacture of the end products are bromine, chlorine, phosphorus and magnesia. Bromine is found naturally in seawater, underground brine deposits and other water reservoirs, such as the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is the world’s premier source of bromine, with concentration levels significantly higher than in regular seawater, and it accounts for almost half of the global supply (together with the production on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea). Most bromine compounds are manufactured by a chemical process involving bromine together with a range of other raw materials, of which the largest is Bisphenol A.

The primary raw materials acquired from external sources by ICL Speciality Fertilizers are KNO₃, SOP, Ammonia, NPK granules, Urea, KOH and coating materials.

The primary raw material for the manufacture of phosphate salts and of phosphate-based food additives is purified phosphoric acid, which is produced by purifying fertilizer grade phosphoric acid as well as via a thermal process from elemental phosphorus (P4).