Mining in Morocco is dominated by one key element: phosphates. With an estimated 70% of the world’s phosphate resources, Morocco is the largest global producer and largest exporter of the multi-use mineral according to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From agriculture to industry, the versatile rock is an ingredient in a wide range of applications, including fertilizers, livestock feed, food preservatives and laundry detergents.

The nation’s phosphate sector is managed by the Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP), which accounts for the bulk of both mined ore and the production of its derivatives and thrives on forging strategic alliances to maintain its pole position in the industry.

In May, OCP signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Libya-Africa Investment Portfolio. The partnership will create a $350-million phosphoric acid production plant in the chemical platform of Jorf Lasfar, as well as a $500-million ammonia production plant in Libya and a $150-million fertilizer plant in either Morocco or Libya. These facilities will turn Jorf phosphate hub into a world benchmark in the phosphate fertilizers industry.

Casablanca-based OCP has a number of major joint ventures with international partners, including both medium and long-term delivery agreements and the construction of production facilities at home and abroad. North American partners include Canadian-based PCS and Agrium, as well as U.S. firms Agrifos, Innophos, and Mosaic of Minneapolis – a leading producer of phosphate-based fertilizers. Belgian firm Prayon was one of OCP’s first mining production partners in the 1980s, and Brazilian, German and Indian companies followed suit.

Earlier this year, OCP signed an MoU with Phu My Fertilizers of Vietnam and also inked an MoU with four Indonesian companies to construct an integrated complex for phosphoric acid production in Morocco and a plant to produce ammonia and phosphate fertilizers in Indonesia.

The state-owned enterprise currently seeks to modernize the industry while maintaining an emphasis on environmental standards. “OCP is aware of the need to reposition and liberalize the mining sector to make it more globally competitive,” says Mhamed Ibnabdeljalil, the company’s Worldwide Sales and Marketing Director. “The government has already passed the law to transform OCP into a private company. This change of status will give us a new and different way of operating and will give us the flexibility to develop more responsively to global competition.”