China to Reinforce Economic Relations with Morocco Through Booming Phosphates Trade

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Cairo, Egypt)--In an effort to strengthen economic relations between China and Morocco, Office Cherifien des Phosphates (OCP) will supply China's Sinochem International Corporation (SHA:600500) (Pudong) with 500,000 tons of diammonium phosphate chemical fertilizer annually, under an agreement signed on Monday in Rabat. OCP is Morocco's state-run phosphate monopoly and the world's biggest phosphates exporter.

The agreement, which spans four years (2011-2014), was signed by the two groups following a meeting between Moroccan Foreign Trade Minister Abdellatif Maazouz and Chinese counterpart Chen Deming on a business visit to Morocco.

Trade relations between Morocco and China have improved steadily since 1999, when trade totaled about $325 million. By 2004, that number increased to $1.14 billion. According to the Chinese embassy in Rabat, trade has continued to improve, exceeding $2 billion in 2009.

OCP began construction on a new fertilizer plant in March 2010, which is part of a plan OCP announced in 2009 to become one of the world's top producers of diammonium phosphate (DAP) and monoammonium phosphate (MAP) by mid-2015. The 1 million-ton-per-annum plant is the second of four OCP plants to be built as it gears up for a surge in global demand for fertilizers from farmers. OCP said in statement that it plans to increase production of DAP/MAP from the current 3 million tons per year to more than 9 million tons by 2015.

In April this year, Moroccan Foreign Minister Taib Fassi Fihri, announced that Morocco and China would promote relations within the framework of an institutionalized strategic partnership. China has become the third-largest trading partner for Morocco.

Morocco exports its fertilizer surplus to China and many African countries, such as Kenya (100,000 tons of DAP fertilizer with a total cost $103 million annually) and Mali (150,000 tons of UREA fertilizers annually).

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