All fact sheets · The Strata Memo
Phosphate
Hover, focus or tap to see the real thing
Photo James St. John. “Peloidal phosphorite Phosphoria Formation Simplot Mine Idaho.jpg.” CC BY 2.0. Wikimedia Commons. File page
What it is
Fluorapatite, the usual phosphate mineral in phosphate rock.
“The phosphate is present as fluorapatite Ca5(PO4)3F”
Source: Wikipedia contributors, Phosphorite (composition line) (text as saved)
On the USGS 2025 List of Critical Minerals. Figures: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (data release, public domain). Estimates are USGS's; check the USGS chapter for notes. Each panel names its source; full citations are in the methodology source register.
Overview
The headline numbers: how much the U.S. depends on imports and how concentrated supply is.
How much does the U.S. import?
of U.S. phosphate use was met by imports in 2025 (USGS net import reliance).
Source: U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Phosphate Rock (February 2026)
Did you know?
Phosphate rock has a link to bones and teeth: the mineral in vertebrate bones and teeth is apatite, and some of the phosphate in the rock is often dissolved from them.
Two sources; the second is less authoritative or covers it loosely. Verified 2026-10-26.
Sources: Wikipedia · Arkansas Geological Survey (Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA)
How concentrated is supply?
66% of world production comes from three countries (China, Morocco, United States). Highly concentrated.
Thirds of the bar: under 33%, 33 to 65%, 66% and over. Our own rule of thumb, not a USGS rating.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Phosphate Rock (February 2026)
Supply
Who produces it, where the reserves are, where U.S. imports come from, and how U.S. supply has moved.
Who has it, and who digs it?
Where it is produced, 2025
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| China | 44% |
| Morocco | 14% |
| United States | 8% |
| Russia | 6% |
| Jordan | 5% |
| Saudi Arabia | 4% |
Where the reserves are
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Morocco | 68% |
| China | 5% |
| Egypt | 4% |
| Tunisia | 3% |
| Russia | 3% |
| Algeria | 3% |
Share of the world total as printed by USGS (rounded). Production and reserves are different things: reserves are what is economic to mine. Hover or focus a bar for its value, or switch to the table view.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Phosphate Rock (February 2026)
Where U.S. imports come from
Choose a data set, then a view. A country keeps the same color in every chart on this page. Grey means other countries, or a country beyond the seven colors (always labeled). Hover or focus a mark for its value, or use the table view.
- Peru100% · $303.4M
- United Kingdom0% · $603K
- Canada0% · $480K
- Spain0% · $141K
- Pakistan0% · $82K
- Germany0% · $70K
| Country | U.S. imports, 2025 | Share of this chart |
|---|---|---|
| Peru | 100% · $303.4M | 99.5% |
| United Kingdom | 0% · $603K | 0.2% |
| Canada | 0% · $480K | 0.2% |
| Spain | 0% · $141K | 0.0% |
| Pakistan | 0% · $82K | 0.0% |
| Germany | 0% · $70K | 0.0% |
U.S. general imports (customs value) in calendar 2025 under HS 2510; countries beyond the top six are grouped. The code can include goods beyond this mineral. The Shift view compares each country's share of 2025 with its share of Jan to Aug 2026 (shares of each period's total).
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, International Trade API: U.S. imports by HS code and country (calendar 2025; Jan to Aug 2026) (data months 2025-12, 2026-08)
Price
Price, average value, f.o.b. mine, dollars per metric ton
Source: U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Phosphate Rock (February 2026)
Trade and tariffs
Tariff codes and the countries behind U.S. imports and exports.
Trade codes and tariffs
| HTS code | What it covers | Normal rate | Column 2 rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2510 | Natural calcium phosphates, natural aluminum calcium phosphates and phosphatic chalk | Free | Free |
Rates from the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule (USITC, saved 2026-10-26). The normal rate is column 1 general; column 2 applies to countries without normal trade relations. A range means different products under the code have different rates. Section 232, Section 301, emergency tariffs and antidumping or countervailing duties are set in separate notices and are not shown. Look up any code at hts.usitc.gov. These are the main codes for this mineral, not a complete list.
Source: U.S. International Trade Commission, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, general and column 2 rates (edition current when saved)
U.S. trade by country
U.S. imports in 2025 by source country, code 2510
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Peru | 100% · $303.4M |
| United Kingdom | 0% · $603K |
| Canada | 0% · $480K |
| Spain | 0% · $141K |
| Pakistan | 0% · $82K |
| Germany | 0% · $70K |
U.S. exports in 2025 by destination, code 2510
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Canada | 56% · $1.3M |
| United Kingdom | 13% · $308K |
| Brazil | 8% · $183K |
| Germany | 4% · $104K |
| India | 3% · $68K |
| Chile | 3% · $68K |
2510 Natural calcium (inc alum cal) phosp & phosp chalk
Top import sources Peru 100%, United Kingdom 0%, Canada 0%
Top export destinations Canada 56%, United Kingdom 13%, Brazil 8%
U.S. Census Bureau International Trade API, saved 2026-10-26. Imports are general imports (customs value) and exports are total exports, in U.S. dollars. Duty collected is Census's calculated duty on imports for consumption. Figures cover every 10-digit product under the code, so they can include goods beyond this mineral, and the duty shown is not split into Section 232, Section 301 or antidumping duties. Bars show the largest code for each direction. Group rows such as the EU or OECD are left out so no country is counted twice.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, International Trade API: U.S. imports and exports by HS code and country (calendar 2025, and January to Aug 2026) (data months 2025-12, 2026-08)
Value chain and risk
Where in the chain the bottlenecks sit, and what other governments and sources say about supply risk.
Value chain: where the bottlenecks are
Mining
Five companies mined phosphate rock at 10 mines in four States in 2025 (Florida, Idaho, North Carolina and Utah); in October 2025 the Bureau of Land Management approved a new mine in Caribou County, Idaho. (U.S. activity)
The source says
“phosphate rock ore was mined by five companies at 10 mines in four States”
“Phosphate rock was produced in Florida, Idaho, North Carolina, and Utah.”
“In October 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management approved a new phosphate rock mine in Caribou County, ID.”
Source: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, Phosphate Rock (PDF page 146) (2026-02)
Ore processing and primary recovery
No sourced data yet.
Refining and separation
No sourced data yet.
Metal, alloy and chemical
More than 95% of U.S. phosphate rock becomes phosphoric acid for fertilizers and animal feed; about 25% of the acid is exported as upgraded fertilizer; U.S. rock imports came more than 99% from Peru in 2021-24. (U.S. activity)
The source says
“More than 95% of the phosphate rock mined in the United States was used to manufacture wet-process phosphoric acid and superphosphoric acid”
“About 25% of the wet-process phosphoric acid produced was exported in the form of upgraded granular diammonium phosphate (DAP), monoammonium phosphate (MAP) fertilizer”
“Peru, >99%; other <1%.”
Source: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, Phosphate Rock (PDF page 146) (2026-02)
Components and end use
The rest of the rock goes to elemental phosphorus for industrial phosphorus compounds, mainly the herbicide glyphosate. (U.S. role not stated)
The source says
“The balance of phosphate rock mined was for the manufacture of elemental phosphorus, which was used to produce phosphorus compounds for industrial applications, primarily glyphosate herbicide.”
Source: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, Phosphate Rock (PDF page 146) (2026-02)
Recycling
USGS lists phosphate rock recycling as none. (no U.S. activity)
The source says
“Recycling: None.”
Source: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, Phosphate Rock (PDF page 146) (2026-02)
Pilot. Summaries are ours, from official pages; each quoted passage is checked against the saved page. “Bottleneck” (orange dot) is shown only where the quote shows one country dominating the stage or the United States relying on imports for it. “No sourced data yet” means we have not found a source, not that the stage is unproblematic.
Policy and funding
Federal items we track for this mineral, each linked to its original.
Policy timeline
Tagged by AI from federal sources; each links to the original. How we label.
Source: U.S. federal sources (Federal Register, Grants.gov, DOE, Regulations.gov, DFC), Policy items tagged for Phosphate (dates per item)
Federal awards already made
Li Industries, Inc. · Department of Energy · $55.2M obligated · started 2025-01-01
Source: usaspending.gov, retrieved 2026-10-29
Georgia Tech Research Corp · Department of Energy · $7.5M obligated · started 2026-10-01
Source: usaspending.gov, retrieved 2026-10-29
University of Texas at Austin · Department of Energy · $2M obligated · started 2026-03-12
Source: usaspending.gov, retrieved 2026-10-29
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution · National Science Foundation · $1.4M obligated · started 2026-09-01
Source: usaspending.gov, retrieved 2026-10-29
Spearstone Solutions, LLC · National Science Foundation · $305K obligated · started 2025-03-01
Source: usaspending.gov, retrieved 2026-10-29
The 5 largest of 5 AI-tagged awards from USAspending (last 12 months, found by keyword; some are only loosely about this mineral). See all awards for Phosphate.
Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, USAspending.gov: spending by award (contracts and grants, last 12 months) (award start dates per item)
Data tables
The USGS figures behind the charts. Click a column heading to sort.
Phosphate Rock: USGS tables
United States
| Measure | Unit | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net import reliance as a percentage of apparent consumption | percent | 18 | 16 |
| Production, marketable | thousand metric tons | 19,400 | 20,000 |
| Sold or used by producers | thousand metric tons | 19,100 | 18,000 |
| Imports for consumption | thousand metric tons | 3,390 | 3,400 |
| Consumption, apparent | thousand metric tons | 22,500 | 21,000 |
| Price, average value, f.o.b. mine, dollars per metric ton | dollars per metric ton | 96 | 100 |
| Stocks, producer, yearend | thousand metric tons | 8,740 | 8,400 |
| Employment, mine and beneficiation plant, number | number | 2,000 | 1,900 |
World production (thousand metric tons; top 6 of 24, plus other countries)
| Country | 2024 | 2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| China | 105,000 | 110,000 | 44% |
| Morocco | 35,300 | 36,000 | 14% |
| United States | 19,400 | 20,000 | 8% |
| Russia | 14,400 | 14,000 | 6% |
| Jordan | 11,500 | 12,000 | 5% |
| Saudi Arabia | 10,000 | 10,000 | 4% |
| Other countries | 769 | 770 | 0% |
World total 2025: 250,000 thousand metric tons (as printed by USGS, rounded).
World reserves (thousand metric tons; top 6 of 24, plus other countries)
| Country | 2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Morocco | 50,000,000 | 68% |
| China | 3,400,000 | 5% |
| Egypt | 2,800,000 | 4% |
| Tunisia | 2,500,000 | 3% |
| Russia | 2,400,000 | 3% |
| Algeria | 2,200,000 | 3% |
| Other countries | 800,000 | 1% |
World total 2025: 73,000,000 thousand metric tons (as printed by USGS, rounded).
U.S. import sources: All (percent of imports, 2021–24)
| Country | Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Peru | >99 |
| Other countries | <1 |
Source: U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Phosphate Rock (February 2026)