Morocco’s phosphates producer OCP group said it will challenge a petition filed by its competitor Mosaic aiming to impose anti-subsidy duties on OCP’s fertilizers exports. OCP has said in a statement that since receiving this petition, it has cooperated with the American authorities, who are evaluating whether the petition warrants investigation, and will challenge the “flawed” allegations. An OCP source told Reuters that the company may unfortunately leave the US fertilizers market in case a countervailing duty, adding that the OCP will be able to redirect its sales to other markets. On June 26, Mosaic claimed that large volumes of “unfairly subsidized imports” from Morocco and Russia are harming its fertilizer operations and causing “distortions” in the US phosphates market. In 2019, OCP’s fertilizer exports hit 9 million tons, including 1.8 million ts to Africa or 58% of total fertilizers sold on the continent.

Source: The North Africa Journal July 25, 2020 14:37 UTC