São Paulo – The Moroccan state-owned company in the phosphate sector, Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP) and Yara International, a multinational in the area of fertilizers, headquartered in Oslo, Norway, has announced the establishment of a joint venture to operate in Brazil. With the partnership, OCP should have a 50% share in the factory and in the maritime terminal that Yara has in Rio Grande, in Rio Grande do Sul, in southern Brazil. The information was disclosed by news agency MAP, from Morocco, and by the Norwegian company.
According to OCP, this is “a first step towards a global partnership” between both companies. The structure in Brazil includes not only the fertilizer factory and the terminal, but also an area for product storage. According to Yara, the partners also plan to invest in the development of the complex in the short and medium run. The horizon forecasted for consolidation of the deal is the first quarter of 2012.
The joint venture contemplates OCP supply of phosphate rock for processing and mixing by Yara, in Rio Grande. “Brazil is a fast growing agricultural market and we, together with OCP, are creating a solid platform for further growth,” said the president of the Norwegian group, Jørgen Ole Haslestad, in a company press statement.
According to MAP, port access in Brazil is essential to the OCP strategy in South America and opens a new channel of supply to Brazilian customers. “OCP is engaged in supplying the growth of global fertilizer demand,” said the president of the Moroccan state-owned company, Mostafa Terrab.
According to Yara, the unit in Rio Grande has capacity for production of around 650,000 tonnes of fertilizers a year and uses approximately 350,000 tonnes of phosphate rock for such.
Understandings between both companies also forecast the supply of OCP phosphate to Yara factories in Europe.
Morocco is one of the main producers and exporters of raw material for the fertilizer industry. According to figures disclosed by the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Brazil imported the equivalent to US$ 904 million in products of the kind from the country in North Africa from January to November this year.
*Translated by Mark Ament
