OCP Nutricrops and US-based Koch Ag & Energy Solutions have launched a new joint venture that will raise their combined phosphate fertiliser production capacity to almost 2.5 million tonnes a year. The companies will each own 50% of the venture, which is built around Jorf Fertilizers Company I, an OCP Nutricrops subsidiary operating at the Jorf Lasfar industrial platform.
The plant can currently produce 1.2 million tonnes of phosphate fertilisers a year.
The deal expands a partnership that began several years ago. In 2022, Koch bought a stake in Jorf Fertilizers Company III, creating Kofert. Together, the two joint ventures will now have a combined production capacity of nearly 2.5 million tonnes a year.
The companies said the move will help increase fertiliser supplies to global markets, especially North America, where demand has risen as buyers look for more suppliers.
They also said the temporary suspension of US countervailing duties on Moroccan phosphate fertiliser imports creates new opportunities to supply American farmers with plant nutrition products.
“This transaction expands our phosphate product offering for customers while strengthening our long-standing collaboration with OCP,” Koch Fertilizer President Scott McGinn said.
OCP Nutricrops Chief Executive Faris Derrij said the partnership would help supply farmers, particularly in North America, with “reliable, high-quality soil nutrition solutions.”
He added: “This partnership will strengthen the resilience of agricultural value chains and contribute to long-term food security.”
