The Cherifien Office for Phosphates (OCP) announced its plans to increase annual production by over 10% this year to meet higher demand, despite the lack of Russian ammonia from its supply chain.
Nada Elmajdoub, Executive Vice President of Performance Management at OCP told Reuters that “the company has managed to replace its required volumes of ammonia for the next few months from other suppliers around the world, and has been able to shift production to use other low-nitrogen raw materials.”
“OCP aims to increase production to 11.9 million tons in 2022 from 10.8 million tons last year and add another 3 million tons of annual production capacity in 2023,” Elmajdoub told Reuters.
The company sees increased demand for its phosphate-derived products in 2022 from India, the internationally leading importer, the Americas, and Africa.
Ammonia, a colorless gas used as a refrigerant, an oxidizing agent, a reducing agent, and as a general cleaning agent, is a vital component to fertilizers’ manufacturing.
OCP’s planned expansion coincides with significant uncertainties in the fertilizer market after Russian soil nutrient exports were halted due to sanctions and the country’s attack on Ukraine.
The Moroccan phosphates giant imports approximately 1.8 million tons of ammonia, a soil nutrient, annually from suppliers such as Russia and Ukraine.
The OCP executive told Reuters that the office has explored “alternative suppliers” for the essential ammonia, adding that “the company has enough storage capacity and import facilities for large vessels to help it flexibly manage supply constraints.”
The Office is now aiming to import ammonia from US producers next year under a long-term supply agreement, according to Reuters, all while launching plans to start producing ammonia at a plant in Nigeria by 2025.
Despite detaining the world’s largest phosphates reserve, Morocco is not among the top 5 importers of ammonia.
According to 2019 data, the top importers of ammonia were India ($1.27B), the United States ($759M), South Korea ($434M), Brazil ($365M), and China ($322M).
That same year, the top exporters of Ammonia were Saudi Arabia ($1.78B), Russia ($1.21B), Trinidad and Tobago ($1B), Indonesia ($472M), and Canada ($379M).
The data suggests that although Russia was an important partner for Morocco’s ammonia supply, other exporters could fuel the Kingdom’s expansion ambitions just as well.
add your comment
Terms of publication : Not to offend the writer, people, sacred things, or attack religions or the divine self, and refrain from racist incitement and insults.