Saudi Arabia's fertilizer industry leads the list of fertilizer manufacturing countries in the region, and the Secretary General of the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA), Abdulwahab Al Saadoun, confirmed that the sector is «currently progressing towards a new phase of growth in production and diversification in the product base.»

The Secretary General of the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) «The Kingdom's production of fertilizers represents 40 percent of the total production capacity in the GCC region,» he said in the association's report on fertilizer sector indicators in the GCC region for 2013, declaring «the Kingdom's keenness to develop and upgrade this sector over the past four decades, to become a sector that generates billions of dollars in profits and valuable revenues, in addition to providing thousands of job opportunities.»
The Kingdom's production capacity of fertilizers is 17.1 million tons, making it the top fertilizer manufacturer in the GCC region. Fertilizer production capacity in the Arabian Gulf region reached 42.7 million tons last year, an increase of 4 percent over 2012, while the global fertilizer industry recorded an increase of only 1.7 percent during the same period. According to the report, nitrogen fertilizers such as ammonia and urea »make up the largest proportion of production capacity, but Ma'aden's projects to develop the phosphate fertilizer industry will contribute to diversifying the fertilizer industry's product base in the Kingdom.« Projects such as Saudi Arabian Mining Company's (Ma'aden) $7 billion Waad Al Shamal, which will begin production by the end of 2016, are expected to take advantage of the Kingdom's «huge phosphate reserves to produce 2.3 million tons of ammonium diphosphate fertilizers.» He noted that these developments »will contribute to the diversification of the Kingdom's portfolio of chemical fertilizers.« The diversification of products will bring many benefits, considering that the fertilizer industry in the region is export-oriented, with more than 70 percent of products exported to foreign markets. »The start of the production of locally produced ammonium diphosphate fertilizers was a valuable opportunity for Saudi fertilizer companies to enter the Asian markets, which are witnessing an increasing demand for this substance,« Al Saadoun explained. The Federation will release the 2013 GCC Fertilizer Sector Indicators Report at its fifth annual Fertilizer Conference, scheduled for September 16-18 in Dubai.