Morocco’s OCP Group plans $450M US fertilizer plant, first in over 40 years

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Morocco’s OCP Group is preparing to build America’s first new phosphate-fertiliser plant in more than four decades as part of a proposed investment worth up to $450 million.

Morocco’s OCP Group and American cooperative CHS plan to invest up to $450 million in a Louisiana fertiliser factory. Photo credit: USDA . Morocco’s OCP and American farmer-owned cooperative CHS plan to build a fertiliser plant in Louisiana. The companies expect to invest up to $450 million in a facility producing more than one million tonnes annually. It would be the first comparable US phosphate-fertiliser plant built since 1984. The project still requires funding and regulatory approvals, and construction has not begun. ADVERTISEMENT Read Also markets World’s 8th-richest nation and Asia’s richest economy make a fresh move with Africa’s 2nd-largest economy, Egypt markets U.S. deepens ties with one of Africa’s largest economies across major sectors as trade nears $15 billion markets Capitec billionaire-linked firms give $3.4 million, more than half of funding declared by South Africa’s second-largest party window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbnails-mid-n', container: 'taboola-thumbnails-mid-1', placement: 'Thumbnails Mid 1', target_type: 'mix' }); OCP North America and CHS, the largest farmer-owned cooperative in the United States, announced plans on 26 August to form a joint venture for the factory.

The facility would be located at the Cornerstone Energy Park in Waggaman, Louisiana, close to the Mississippi River.

It is expected to produce more than one million tonnes of phosphate-based fertiliser annually.

If approved and completed, the companies say it would be the first plant of its kind built in the United States since 1984.

OCP Group would supply phosphoric acid to the Louisiana factory. The acid is produced from phosphate rock and is a central input in the manufacture of fertiliser used on crops including maize, wheat and soybeans.

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Finished products from the factory would be distributed through OCP North America and CHS’s network of agricultural cooperatives, retailers and farmers.

The structure would allow OCP to move further into manufacturing inside one of the world’s largest agricultural markets instead of supplying only imported finished fertiliser.

It would also connect Morocco’s enormous phosphate resources directly to American manufacturing and food production.

Morocco holds the world’s largest known phosphate-rock reserves. OCP, which is controlled by the Moroccan state, has become one of the world’s most influential suppliers of phosphate fertilisers.

The proposed factory would produce more than one million tonnes of phosphate-based fertiliser annually.Scott Audette / REUTERS Business Insider USA America imports 40% of what its farmers use

The companies said the United States imports approximately 40% of the phosphate fertiliser required by its farmers.

They estimate that the proposed Louisiana factory could reduce that import dependence by more than 48%.

That figure is a company projection. It has not been independently tested, and the plant would still rely on phosphoric acid supplied by Morocco.

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The factory would therefore increase the amount of fertiliser manufactured on American soil without making the supply chain entirely domestic.