Quality & compliance
Quality and compliance
A cargo is worth what its certificate says it is worth. We test at the mine, at the mine gate, at the port and at shipment, and each result is recorded against the same cargo reference — so the certificate a buyer receives is the last step in a chain of measurements rather than a single reading taken at the end.
Chain of custody
Four test points, then the document set.
Grade is not established once. It is established at the mine, confirmed at the mine gate, confirmed again on receipt at port, and certified at shipment. Each result is booked against the cargo reference, so a drift between two points is caught while the material is still under our control rather than argued about after discharge.
At the mine
Material drawn from identified producing concessions, with the source of each cargo recorded. Face and stockpile samples establish the grade before anything is committed to a cargo.
At the mine gate
Washing, drying and sizing to the contracted specification at the plant serving the concession, with the beneficiated product re-tested on despatch. Nothing leaves the gate against a grade it has not been measured at.
At the port
Testing on receipt into port stock, and again on the built stockpile before nomination. This is where a blend is proved to hold the contracted numbers across the whole parcel rather than in the sample that happened to be drawn.
At shipment
Composite sampling during loading, in the presence of the independent inspector, and analysis by SGS or an equivalent internationally accredited agency. This is the result that becomes the Certificate of Analysis, referencing the contract and the bill of lading.
Documentation
Certificate of Analysis, certificate of origin, weight and draft survey and bill of lading presented as a set for letter-of-credit purposes.
Certificate of Analysis
What every cargo carries.
The Phosphex Certificate of Analysis sets the contracted specification and the analysed result side by side, parameter by parameter, with a status against each. It carries the contract reference, the vessel and bill of lading number, the concession, the quantity and the date of issue, signed by the inspecting agency and countersigned by Phosphex.
Independent inspection
Certified at the load port.
Sampling and analysis are performed by an independent inspection agency appointed under the contract, at the load port, at seller's cost unless the parties agree otherwise.
Buyers are welcome to appoint their own inspector to attend loading and draw a parallel sample, and we accommodate a discharge-port umpire analysis where the contract provides for one.
Regulatory
Written to the destination limit.
Contaminant limits are set where the cargo lands. Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 sets the EU-wide cadmium ceiling, several member states apply lower national limits, and France has legislated a stepped reduction. India, Malaysia and other destination markets set their own requirements.
Phosphex declares cadmium on every phosphate Certificate of Analysis in mg/kg P₂O₅ and contracts to the limit that governs the destination, selecting the origin that meets it. The full destination table sits on the phosphate page.
Counterparty
KYC, AML and CTF.
Phosphex runs counterparty due diligence before a contract is written, not after. Buyers, agents, intermediaries, vessels and banks are identified and screened on every transaction: beneficial ownership established, sanctions and PEP lists checked against the applicable regimes, and vessel and route screened at nomination.
The programme covers know-your-customer, anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing obligations, is refreshed on a set cycle rather than once at onboarding, and produces the documentation a buyer's own compliance function needs to complete its review.