Office Chérifien des Phosphates

OCP Group Logo

Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP, Arabic: المكتب الشريف للفوسفاط‎) is the national Moroccan phosphates company. It is the world's biggest exporter of phosphates and derivatives. The company is solely responsible for the production and sale of Moroccan phosphate resources, mined at the Benguérir, Khouribga, Youssoufia mines in central Morocco, and Boucraa in southern Morocco. This is a company nationalized, created in 1920.

History

The OCP Group, a state owned corporation founded in 1920 and headquartered in Morocco, is the world’s leading exporter of phosphate rock and derivative products; OCP activities cover the entire phosphate value chain, from phosphate rock mining to chemical processing of phosphoric acid and fertilizers. OCP products are an important component in global food security as they provide essential nutrients to food crops and help rebuild healthy soils.

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Mining and Chemical activities

With the world’s largest phosphate reserves, mostly located in the Khouribga basin in the center of Morocco, OCP offers a wide selection of phosphate rock qualities for various uses. OCP is the first exporter of rock phosphate and phosphoric acid in the world and one of the main exporters of phosphate based fertilizers, with a commercial portfolio of over 130 customers and a presence on all five continents.

As the largest enterprise in Morocco, OCP is a key driver of the country’s economy. Phosphate and its derivatives represent in 2010, in value, approximately one quarter of Morocco's exports and about 3.5% of its GDP. OCP’s exports will be about 4.5 billion US dollars in 2010. OCP directly employs more than 18,000 employees.

OCP has developed long-lasting relationships with several of its customers that go beyond purely commercial arrangements. It has, over the years, set up several processing joint ventures with plants located in Morocco and abroad with prominent partners from Brazil, Belgium, Germany, India and Pakistan.

OCP plans to increase its rock production capacity from 30 to 50 Million Tons as well as increase its downstream fertilizer production through targeted strategic partnerships, especially in the Jorf Phosphate Hub (JPH) where infrastructures are being developed to host 10 additional units. This “plug and play” platform will provide a shared low cost infrastructure connected by a slurry pipeline to a reliable supply from the largest phosphate deposit in the world located in Khouribga.

See also

• Economy of Morocco

References

External links

• OCP official website
• mining-technology.com