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Join on Telegram Rabat – India’s Minister of chemicals and fertilizers Mansukh Mandaviya is set to visit Morocco to seal a deal to import rock phosphate, Indian business outlet Mint reported.
India’s government is planning to finalize agreements with Morocco and Egypt to obtain the valuable resource, the report added, in an effort to tackle concerns about fertilizer security.
Rock phosphate is a vital component in making Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) and Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium (NPK) fertilizer.
In addition to signing agreements with the countries, the minister’s visit could see the establishment of plants for Indian companies in Morocco and Egypt to produce fertilizer for imports.
India’s DAP supplier China halted imports recently as the Ukraine war meant the price of soil nutrients and feedstocks skyrocketed. This led the country’s subsidy to shoot up, pushing the government to seek alternative sources of raw materials.
“Morocco has huge reserves of phosphorus, which is an important element for production of fertilizers. Therefore, I am planning to visit Morocco from 13-14 January for signing a memorandum of understanding with them,” Mint quoted Mandaviya as saying, adding that fertilizer security is “one of the biggest issues” today.
In the context of the Ukraine war causing prices to rise, Morocco has emerged as a potential significant player in the international fertilizer scene.
As European and American manufacturers cut on their supply, Morocco has been taking advantage of its abundant phosphate reserves –by far the largest in the world– to establish itself regionally and internationally.
In Africa, the country’s fertilizer giant OCP has been establishing a foothold with its strategy focused on smallholder farmers and customized products. Now, they are hoping to expand into Europe, the US, and other global markets.
There could be one pitfall in the India deal, however, as it involves exporting the raw phosphate material instead of fully processed fertilizer, which could mean partial loss of value to Morocco as they would not be exporting the value-added product.
