By Joshua Mayfield
Around one year ago from the time of this publication, a delegation of Australian and Canadian ambassadors visited one the world’s potash producers, Arab Potash Company (APC), at the Ghor Al-Safi mining site in Jordan. So, why did the ambassadors want to learn more about this potash expansion project at Ghor Al-Safi? The official documentation states that the ambassadors had sought to hear about the nature of APC’s work, including the expansion project at Ghor Al-Safi and how the company plays a leading role in the global fertilizer market.
APC is a potash mining company. In addition to potash, APC is also expanding on a production strategy to invest in the downstream and complementary industries related to its Dead Sea industrial operations, including the production of potassium nitrate, bromine, and other mineral byproducts from the Ghor Al-Safi mining site. Jordan’s King Abdullah II has given strong support for APC’s strategy at Ghor Al-Safi, by inaugurating two strategic projects that will complement potash production capacity expansion plans: the solar evaporation ponds expansion project, and the power and steam plant project.
These are some of the sustainable energy projects in place for APC to grow its presence in the downstream sector and enhance Jordan’s position as a key Middle East supplier of potash to the global fertilizer market. The company aims to increase production capacity by 3.7 million tons per year of potash through this new expansion strategy at Ghor Al-Safi. The Australian and Canadian ambassadors got to see firsthand how APC intends to construct a new granular potash factory, while developing processing industries that boost APC’s position in the industrial value chain for downstream fertilizer products.
There’s more to this potash expansion strategy than just downstream investments. Jordan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have unveiled their plans to develop a railway network entitled the UAE–Jordan Railway Company. This new railway will link Ghor Al-Safi to Jordan’s Port of Aqaba on the Red Sea. The railway project aims to transport 16 million tons of phosphate and potash per year. The joint-railway project has a total investment value of USD $2.3 billion. In 2025, APC exported approximately 2.6 million tons of potash to the global market.
The agreement for the UAE-Jordan Railway Company was set up by a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in 2024 under an equal partnership model with a consortium of Jordanian entities such as APC, but also the Jordan Phosphate Mines Company (JPMC), the Government Investments Management Company, and the Social Security Investment Fund. The financing is expected to be closed in 2027 to make way for the construction of the railway.
The Jordanian government has been working closely with major potash importers Brazil and Indonesia to gain market access to APC’s potash. In the first quarter of 2026, APC’s potash exports to Brazil grew year-over-year. In addition, Jordanian and Indonesian government authorities are in talks to develop a joint fertilizer company to expand APC’s potash exports into Southeast Asia. The Jordanian government has already successfully carried out this partnership model in Asia-Pacific with the Nippon Jordan Fertilizer Company (NJFC). The NJF is the first joint venture company set up by APC and JPMC for fertilizer exports to Japan. The production started in 1997.
APC is the eighth-largest potash producer worldwide by volume. APC also entitles itself to being a sole producer of potash in the Arab World. Established in 1956 in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan as a pan-Arab venture, APC operates under a concession from the Government of Jordan that grants it exclusive rights to extract, manufacture and market minerals from the Dead Sea until 2058.
The Ghor Al-Safi area is famous for its strategic location and is in the lowest point on earth next to the Dead Sea in Jordan. There are many farming and livestock communities in the Ghor Al-Safi area. It was known during Roman-Byzantine time by the name “Zoara” and was famous for being a vital agricultural and trade centre during the era. At present, APC is building a new crystallization plant with Germany-based CAC Engineering that will increase potassium chloride production at Ghor Al-Safi by one million tons per year.
