Profits of the “Sharif Office for Phosphates Group” increased Moroccan (OCP), the world’s largest company in the fertilizer market, increased by 265% for the first half of this year, on an annual basis, thanks to high demand and prices worldwide.
The group’s profits for the first six months of 2022 exceeded 16.8 billion Moroccan dirhams ($1.5 billion), up from 4.6 billion dirhams ($426 million) for the same period last year.
In the whole of 2021, the group achieved annual profits of nearly 16.3 billion dirhams ($1.45 million).
The global demand for phosphate fertilizers has increased since the beginning of this year, and their prices have risen due to the disruptions in supply chains, especially in the wake of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis. The average price of a metric ton of phosphate exceeded $1,000 for the six months of the year, the highest since 2008. It peaked in April at $1,210 per metric ton, the highest ever.
The state-owned group disclosed that the “exceptional” financial performance recorded in the first half of this year resulted from “the rise in the prices of phosphate and its derivatives, in addition to measures to reduce production costs,” according to a statement issued by it.
Morocco possesses more than 70% of the world’s reserves of phosphates, which the “Office Sharif Group” is responsible for extracting, processing and exporting.
Group sales in the first half jumped to 56 billion dirhams ($ 5.1 billion), compared to 32 billion dirhams ($ 2.9 billion) during the same period last year, an increase of 72%. The increase in the prices of fertilizers, crude phosphates and phosphorous acid compensated for the decrease in the quantity sold.
Phosphate is Morocco’s number one export product, and contributes to strengthening the country’s hard currency balance.
OCP Group is one of the largest companies in Morocco, employing more than 20,000 people. It owns several mines to extract phosphate, in addition to factories for the production of fertilizers and research and innovation centers.