For the second consecutive year, the kingdom recorded record revenues thanks to phosphate exports, benefiting from the soaring prices of this vital mineral for food security in Africa since the disruptions linked to the war in Ukraine.

Morocco is the second largest producer of phosphates in the world after China and holds 70% of world reserves.

"It is a strategic mineral for the future because it is crucial for world food security," Abderrahim Handouf, a specialist in agricultural policies, told AFP.

"Faced with the increase in demography, fertilizers are the most effective means of increasing the productivity of agricultural holdings", emphasizes Mr. Handouf.

Phosphate rocks have been mined since 1921 in the kingdom, including in Western Sahara which provides 8% of national production.

Morocco represents 31% of the world phosphate market, according to the Cherifian Phosphate Office (OCP), the public company which holds the monopoly of its exploitation.

OCP should record in 2022 a turnover of more than 130 billion dirhams (around 11.5 billion euros), an increase of 56% compared to 2021, according to official figures.

“Geopolitical tensions”

The prices of synthetic fertilizers, of which Russia is the world's largest exporter, have soared due to Western sanctions against Moscow, and the rise in the price of natural gas, essential for their manufacture.

But already before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the price spike was fueled by the explosion in demand after the Covid-19 pandemic, export restrictions imposed by China and the needs of the India, one of the main world importers which had exhausted its stocks, specifies Mounir Halim, expert of the sector.

A photo taken on May 13, 2013 shows untreated phosphate deposited on a mountain at the end of a conveyor belt at the Marca factory of the Moroccan National Phosphate Company (OCP/public), near Laayoune, the capital of Western Sahara under Moroccan control © Fadel SENNA / AFP/Archives

OCP has quadrupled its production capacity between 2008 and 2021: from 3.4 million tonnes to 12 million and is aiming for 15 million tonnes by the end of 2023.

Moroccan exports of phosphate and its derivatives jumped until the end of September by 66.6% compared to the same period last year, for a value of 91 billion dirhams (more than 8.5 billion euros ), according to the Foreign Exchange Office.

But international production remains limited and "geopolitical tensions could impose new supply constraints in the short term", notes a recent report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

"Winning Joker"

In this context, phosphate has become an instrument for Morocco in its determination to settle in its favor the interminable conflict in Western Sahara, which opposes it to the Sahrawi separatists supported by Algeria.

Fertilizers are the "joker winner of Moroccan diplomacy" while the OCP has become its "economic arm", analyzes the local press.

Morocco thus recalled a shipment of 50,000 tons of fertilizer destined for Peru, according to media reports, after Lima restored diplomatic relations with the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) of the separatists of the Polisario Front.

"Morocco uses its economic weapons in a pragmatic way, far from any logic of bargaining", tempers Tajeddine El Husseini, professor in international relations, while conceding that they can have "a political impact".

Photo taken on May 13, 2013 shows the facilities of the Moroccan National Phosphate Company (OCP/public) factory in Marca, near Laayoune, the capital of Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara © Fadel SENNA / AFP/Archives

Courted by Brazil and Japan, OCP is stepping up its international presence, particularly on the African continent where it is established in 16 countries and has 12 subsidiaries.

It has just inaugurated a fertilizer blending plant in Nigeria and in September signed a contract to set up another in Ethiopia.

The public giant plans to devote 4 million tonnes of fertilizer "to support food security in Africa" ​​in 2023. And this, after having exported 500,000 tonnes of phosphates to African countries this year, either free or at preferential prices. .

"Morocco has launched economic cooperation projects for several years with several African countries, in particular those which were hostile to it on the Sahara issue", recalls political commentator Naoufal Bouamri.

"It's a way of getting closer and maybe getting these countries to change their position in the future," he said.

© 2022 AFP