OCP Group, a Moroccan state-owned phosphate company, announced on Monday that it had acquired a 50% stake in GlobalFeed S.L. from Fertinagro Biotech S.L., a major Spanish fertilizer producer.

“This acquisition confirms OCP’s goal of diversifying its phosphate solutions and becoming a leading player in the animal nutrition sector, addressing growing demand and expanding its offerings to specialty sustainable and customized products,” said Marouane Ameziane, OCP Group’s Managing Director for Specialty Products & Solutions.

According to Javier Martin, CEO of GlobalFeed, “this even closer alliance with OCP will accelerate our industrial capabilities and market growth, offering sustainable and advanced phosphates to the world’s most demanding nutritionists.”

GlobalFeed is an animal nutrition company that manufactures and distributes a wide range of products, including phosphate-based commodities and high-value solutions for a variety of species.

The company owns flexible production units in Huelva, Spain, with a capacity of 200,000 tons of phosphate-based products and 30,000 tons of iron sulphate, and it has a large global sales footprint.

The animal feed market has been strong in recent years as livestock production has increased around the world to meet the growing population’s demand for adequate meat and protein products, particularly in emerging markets.

This transaction will help OCP’s strategy to grow in the animal nutrition segment by expanding its geographical presence and offering a diverse, customized, and innovative product portfolio.

The OCP is the world’s first manufacturer of phosphate-based products and a global leader in plant nutrition. It offers a diverse range of customized products that help improve soil, increase agricultural yields, feed animals, and nourish the planet in a sustainable and cost-effective manner.

The OCP group generated $9.4 billion in revenue in 2021. It has a presence on all five continents and collaborates with over 350 customers worldwide.

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Following the Russo-Ukraine crisis, witnessed Russia’s exports damaged by Western sanctions, global demand for Moroccan phosphate has increased.

After shipments were hampered by Russia’s war in Ukraine, India plans to increase imports of phosphate and its derivatives from Morocco, Canada, and Israel to ensure adequate supplies for the summer season.

India is a major fertilizer importer for the country’s massive peasant sector, which employs over 60% of the country’s workforce and accounts for 15% of the $2.7 trillion economy.
Teresa Cristina, the Brazilian Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply, met with representatives from a number of Arab countries, including Morocco, a few days ago to discuss ways to ensure that her country was supplied with fertilizers that were of great concern to it following the Russian-Ukraine conflict.

Morocco, which is Brazil’s third largest fertilizer provider after Russia and Belarus, along with Qatar, Egypt, and Oman, contributes 26% of the fertilizer imported by the country, which is looking to offset a drop in imports due to the turmoil in Eastern Europe.

In response to the increased global demand, the Sheriff’s Office Phosphate Group plans to increase production by 10% this year to fulfill the increased demand.

“The target is to boost production to 11.9 million tons this year compared to 10.8 million tons last year,” Nada Majdoub, the group’s director of effectiveness, told Reuters, “and plans to add another 3 million tons of annual production capacity in 2023.”

According to the same executive, the company has seen increased demand for its products from India, the Americas, and Africa this year.

Phosphate and its derivatives sales overseas were around 7.7 billion dirhams at the end of January, according to Exchange Office figures, up from 3.4 billion dirhams the previous year.

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