(MENAFN) Syria has restarted operations at a phosphate plant in the central Homs province for the first time in a decade, according to reports.

Speaking at an official ceremony, Energy Minister Mohammed Al-Bashir highlighted that rehabilitating the Sharqiya mines facility represents a key step in strengthening Syria’s role in the global phosphate market and boosting the national economy. He emphasized the plant’s reopening as crucial for revitalizing the country’s energy and mineral resources sector.

Phosphate mining is among Syria’s most vital mineral industries, and restoring the Sharqiya plant is part of a broader government effort to repair damaged production facilities and improve infrastructure in this strategic sector.

Fadi Harmoush, head of the factories division at the Sharqiya Mines Phosphate Directorate, said the plant has resumed production after full rehabilitation and now has an annual capacity of 1.2 million tons. He described the facility as “one of the most significant phosphate production facilities in the region and the Middle East, and a strong pillar of the national economy.”

During the years of the uprising against the former Syrian regime (2011–2024), many of the country’s essential sectors—including industry, agriculture, energy, and public services—were severely disrupted, bringing much of the nation’s production to a near halt.

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