Ferro phosphorus
A mixture of iron phosphides, typically with 20–30% phosphorus, formed as a by-product when elemental phosphorus is made from phosphate rock in electric furnaces. It is used to add phosphorus to iron and steel.
Supply risk
Reviewed 3 Oct 2026 · Methodology
Elevated
By-product of elemental phosphorus furnaces, which are concentrated in China
Supply concentration (high) sets the level: ferrophosphorus is tapped as a by-product of electric-furnace elemental phosphorus production, of which China held 74% of global supply in the EU's 2023 assessment. No export controls or trade measures specific to ferrophosphorus were found.
Since 1 Jan 2023 · Sources: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, European Commission, DG GROW
Get alerts for this materialRisk drivers
- Supply concentrationHigh
- Ferrophosphorus forms in the electric furnaces that make elemental phosphorus and is tapped with the slag, so supply follows that industry. China held 74% of global elemental phosphorus supply in the EU's 2023 assessment.Sources: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, European Commission, DG GROW
- Export controlsLow
- No export licensing, quotas, bans or export duties specific to ferrophosphorus were identified as of October 2026.
- Policy & tariffsLow
- No anti-dumping, safeguard or sanctions measures specific to ferrophosphorus were identified. The EU ferroalloy safeguard of Nov 2025 covers ferromanganese, ferrosilicon, silicomanganese and ferrosilicomagnesium, not ferrophosphorus.Source: SteelOrbis
- Operational disruptionLow
- No significant outages at elemental phosphorus furnaces affecting ferrophosphorus supply were identified in the 12 months to October 2026.
- Demand shockLow
- Ferrophosphorus is used to add phosphorus to iron and steel. No demand-driven shortage was identified as of October 2026.
A supply-availability rating, not a price forecast or investment view. Export-control information is factual and is not legal advice.
Trade flows
2024 · HS 720299
CombinedOther ferro-alloys
Recorded world imports: 414,030 t · $788M
Top exporters
- Indonesia32%131,820 t · $149M
- China27%113,855 t · $210M
- Brazil10%39,881 t · $154M
- South Africa8%32,878 t · $31.7M
- Slovenia3%10,562 t · $29.1M
- Argentina2%7,380 t · $18.5M
- India2%6,836 t · $11.7M
- Malaysia2%6,410 t · $7.18M
- Kazakhstan1%5,320 t · $2.54M
- Spain1%4,661 t · $12.1M
Top importers
- China36%148,391 t · $258M
- India17%68,686 t · $102M
- Japan5%22,336 t · $43M
- United States5%21,974 t · $51.3M
- Germany4%15,899 t · $31M
- Türkiye3%14,168 t · $28.4M
- South Korea3%13,645 t · $19.4M
- France2%10,190 t · $28M
- Italy2%9,217 t · $22.7M
- Spain2%8,746 t · $20.9M
Largest routes
- Indonesia→China131,810 t · $149M
- South Africa→India29,257 t · $28.4M
- China→India27,500 t · $44M
- Brazil→China14,188 t · $86M
- China→South Korea13,477 t · $18.7M
Source: UN Comtrade, imports reported by 109 countries for 2024. Exporters are ranked by what importing countries recorded (mirror data), so countries that do not report their own exports are still counted. Values are in US dollars including freight and insurance. Weights are product weight. Recent years can be incomplete, and unrecorded trade is not included.
Overview
Ferrophosphorus is a mixture of iron phosphides. It forms when iron in the feed to an elemental phosphorus furnace is reduced to iron, which then combines with phosphorus.1 It is therefore a rather than a deliberately , and usually contains 20–30% phosphorus and 50–75% iron, with small and variable amounts of vanadium, chromium, titanium, manganese and nickel that depend on the phosphate rock used.2
Ferrophosphorus is not on the US or EU critical lists. Phosphorus and phosphate rock are both on the EU critical raw materials list.3
How it is made
In the electric furnace process, phosphate rock is agglomerated and charged to an with coke as the reductant and silica as a flux. The reaction produces carbon monoxide gas carrying phosphorus vapor, a calcium silicate , and ferrophosphorus. The slag and ferrophosphorus are tapped from the furnace, and the phosphorus is condensed from the gas.1 At one US plant described by the EPA, ferrophosphorus was tapped into chill molds, cooled, crushed and screened, and sold as a raw material to the steel industry.1
Supply is therefore tied to elemental phosphorus output. In the United States, only a small part of mined phosphate rock goes to elemental phosphorus, which is used mainly to make glyphosate herbicide; more than 95% goes to wet-process phosphoric acid for fertilizers and animal feed.4
Ferrophosphorus can also arise in other mineral processing. The largest niobium producer, in Brazil, removes phosphorus from its pyrochlore by electric-furnace smelting with steel , which yields a ferrophosphorus with about 11% phosphorus that it has described disposing of as waste.5
What it is used for
Ferrophosphorus is used in iron and steel making to add a desired amount of phosphorus to the alloy.2 Elemental phosphorus and ferrophosphorus are both used in ferrous metallurgy.1
Grades and forms
Composition varies with the phosphate rock and furnace practice. Silicon content matters to steelmakers: silicon above about 1% causes problems because it dissolves in the molten metal, so low-silicon ferrophosphorus is preferred for quality steel.2
Ferrophosphorus (by-product)
≈ 20–30% P
Tapped from elemental phosphorus furnaces, cast, then crushed and screened for use in iron and steel making.
Low-silicon ferrophosphorus
Material with little silicon, preferred for quality steel because silicon above about 1% causes problems in the melt.
Trade and policy
Ferrophosphorus has its own US statistical line, 7202.99.80.20, within the "other " subheading, with a general duty rate of 5%.6
This section is factual background, not legal or trade-compliance advice.
Sources
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Identification and Description of Mineral Processing Sectors and Waste Streams: Elemental Phosphorus. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4
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US Patent 4,201,576: Method for refining ferrophosphorus for use in the production of phosphorus-containing steel. Google Patents, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩2 ↩3
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Critical raw materials. European Commission, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩
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Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Phosphate Rock. U.S. Geological Survey, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩
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The Evolution of FeNb Manufacturing. CBMM (niobium.tech), accessed 2026-10-03. ↩
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Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States: heading 7202 (ferroalloys). U.S. International Trade Commission, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩
Sourcing ferro phosphorus?
ASZ Company FZCO, the operator of this site, supplies ferro phosphorus to industrial buyers worldwide.