Morocco Q1 phosphoric acid exports down 35%

21 April 2008 16:58  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--Moroccan exports of phosphoric acid reached 307,200 tonnes P2O5 nutrient content in the first quarter of 2008, down 35% on the same period in 2007, according to Office Cherifien des Phosphates (OCP) data released on Monday.

 

Exports for January-March 2007 were 470,000 tonnes. Lower production rates are the result of the high price of sulphur used in the making of the feedstock sulphuric acid.

 

This has led OCP to ship minimum quantities under contracts, most notably India, the world’s largest importer of acid, with 53% of global trade.

 

India was the largest recipient in the first quarter of 2008, taking 89,000 tonnes, 29% of the total. Brazil was the second largest recipient, with 54,100 tonnes, or 18% of all exports.

 

OCP data for the first three months of 2008 said that its phosphate rock exports reached 3.25m tonnes, down marginally on the 3.33m tonnes exported in the same period of 2007.

 

The largest consumer was the US, which took 799,000 tonnes, equivalent to 25% of the total.

 

Phosphate rock is used to make phosphoric acid, itself used to make finished phosphate fertilizers.

By: Mike Nash
+44 20 8652 3214

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