This Thursday (14) in your ANBA Bulletin: A story by Isaura Daniel on the plans of Morocco’s OCP to break into Brazilian market. The phosphate giant is planning to add four new storage sites in Brazil next year in Goiás, Minas Gerais, Pará, and Santa Catarina. The company brings its products from Morocco and keep them in warehouses. From there, it ships them to fertilizer mixers and distributors. “We internalize everything so that our clients get the product just-in-time, right next to their plants,” said OCP’s CEO for Brazil, Olavio Takenaka (pictured, on the right), who attended the Brazil Africa Forum held last Wednesday. The company has been in Brazil since 2010, with operations in Paranaguá (Paraná), Rio Grande and Itaqui (Rio Grande do Sul), Rondonópolis (Mato Grosso) and Aratu (Bahia), plus two offices in São Paulo (São Paulo). “Brazil has been and will continue to be one of the fastest-growing countries in fertilizer consumption for decades,” the executive added.

Brazil Africa Forum was also attended by Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce secretary-general Tamer Mansour. After all, ten out of the 22 Arab countries are in the African continent. He sat on a panel on the international agricultural trade scenario. Development through agribusiness and its challenges for Africa were the subject of the conference. According to chief economist and director of the Afreximbank, Hippolyte Fofack, 75% of Africa’s imports of food and agricultural products hail from Brazil.

At the Arab Chamber’s headquarters, a cycle of lectures showed how the Arab consumer habits have changed as well as retail strategies. Euromonitor Strategic Intelligence for Middle East and North Africa Markets consultant, Kinda Chebib, told for example that digital channels have grown, while physical stores have become more than just local sales points to locals for consumer’s experience. H2R Pesquisas commercial director Alessandra Frisso highlighted the importance of young people in the Arab consumer market. “This region is very dynamic,” said Frisso. “They like to bargain,” finished Minerva Foods exports manager Janaína Azevedo