Rabat – In a bid to offset the sharp drop in Russia and Ukraine’s fertilizer exports due to the ongoing war, Europe is turning to Morocco to ensure regional food security.
Speaking to EURACTIV, Jacob Hansen, Director General of Fertilizers Europe, an association representing EU mineral fertilizer manufacturers, said that “Putin is playing games with gas, and this led to very high fertilizer prices, and without them, we do not have food security.”
According to Hansen, Europe imports roughly 40% of its natural gas – an essential raw material for fertilizer production – from Russia. Additionally, Russia provides a third of European imports of ammonia, phosphate, and potash fertilizers. “60% of imported fertilizers come from Russia and Belarus,” he explained.
While Europe is working to reduce its dependence on Russian fertilizers, the process is “gradual”, Hansen stressed. However, an EU official told EURACTIV that the regional bloc’s domestic production of fertilizers, complemented by imports, is expected to meet the needs of EU farmers next year.
“High level of selling prices for grains should allow EU farmers to purchase the necessary quantities of fertilizers”, the source explained.
Still, the EU remains reliant on fertilizer imports, adding that “the most obvious solution [to the ongoing situation] is to buy more fertilizers from North Africa – particularly Morocco – and the Middle East, maybe South Africa,” Hansen said.
With Moroccan fertilizers accounting for 40% of Europe’s imports of phosphate, the North African country is one of the few viable alternatives to Russia.
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At the onset of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Morocco’s state-owned phosphate giant, OCP Group, announced its plans to increase fertilizer production by 10% in 2022 to reach 11.9 million tonnes. The group further plans to boost production by 50% over the next four years to address rising global demand for fertilizers from India, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.
In May, OCP Group reported a 77% year-on-year increase in its turnover in the first quarter of 2022 following a strong performance led by the growing global demand for phosphate products. The group’s quarterly turnover was estimated at MAD 25.3 billion ($2.4 billion).
Besides securing unprecedented economic gains, OCP has donated fertilizers to numerous African countries in an effort to alleviate the impact of the war in Ukraine on food shortages across the continent. In July, the OCP Group donated 15,000 tonnes of fertilizers to Rwanda.
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