Morocco is set to supply nearly 3 million tonnes of phosphate-based fertilisers to India by next month through OCP Nutricrops, its flagship fertiliser firm, an OCP spokesperson said. The transfer follows a strategic partnership aimed at reducing India’s dependence on China and mitigating risks from increasing market volatility.
China tapered off supplies of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) to India, the world’s second-largest importer of fertilizers, first in 2023, leading to a complete halt by early 2025. A similar squeeze on export of rare earth elements has set off a global scramble for new supply sources.
“Starting this year, India and OCP Nutricrops signed a global deal with six partners to deliver 2.5 million tonnes of fertilisers,” a spokesperson of the Moroccan firm told this newspaper. The north African country is home to nearly 70% of the world’s phosphate reserves.
By 2025-end, Moroccan supplies are poised to reach 2.8 million tonnes in partnership with Indian companies, according to the spokesperson. The six Indian firms include the state-owned National Fertilisers Ltd, Indian Phosphate Ltd, Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Limited and Paradeep Phosphates Ltd, in which OCP Nutricrops has a 28% stake. Phosphate is a critical crop nutrient needed by all plants.
India has entered into long-term contracts with Morocco’s OCP Group to ramp up supplies, the first of which were signed by then chemicals and fertilisers minister Mansukh Mandaviya during his visit to the Moroccan capital Rabat in 2023.
Indian firms too are clinching deals and making investments in mineral-rich nations, such as Saudi Arabia and Jordan, with the help of government-to-government consultations to secure fertiliser supplies. India relies on imports to meet a third of its annual demand for crop nutrients, which it offers at a discount to farmers through the fertiliser subsidy bill.
OCP Nutricrops is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the OCP Group, a Moroccan state-owned phosphate company. Over the past year, OCP Nutricrops, in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, has been conducting multiple field trials to evaluate triple super phosphate, a special formulation, in five states, including Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.
This correspondent visited OCP’s production facilities in Morocco during a visit organised by the firm.
