OSLO, Dec 13 (Reuters) – Yara International, a Norway-based fertiliser maker, said it agreed to a broad deal with Moroccan phosphate provider OCP that includes the establishment of a 50-50 joint venture in Brazil.
The joint venture will import OCP ‘ s phosphate rock to Brazil for processing by Yara into fertiliser and other products, Yara said, while the Moroccan group will also provide raw materials to Yara plants in Europe.
“Brazil is a fast-growing agricultural market where we, together with OCP, are creating a strong platform for further growth,” Yara Chief Executive Joergen Ole Haslestad said in a statement.
“Furthermore, we are securing long-term raw material supply for our European NPK (nitrogen-, phosphorous- and potassium-based fertiliser) plants.”
State-controlled OCP, or Office Cherifien des Phosphates, is the world’s top phosphate reserves holder.
“OCP is committed to meet the growing global demand of fertilizers. We are pleased to build this partnership with Yara, which further consolidates our existing long-term relationship with Yara,” Mostafa Terrab, OCP’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement.
Under the arrangement the Moroccan company will gain a 50-percent interest in Yara’s existing terminal and production plant in Rio Grande, Brazil.
“Through the joint venture, OCP and Yara will have access to the existing port, terminal and storage facilities, which they plan to develop through investments in the short- to medium- term,” Yara said.
Yara said its Rio Grande plant consumes some 350,000 tonnes of phosphate rock to produce up to 650,000 tonnes of “single super phosphate.”
“Phosphate rock is crucial to the most important products that Yara makes, and OCP is among the largest suppliers in the world,” Yara spokesman Esben Tuman said in an interview.
He said it was too early to release the financial aspects of the deal, to be completed in the first quarter of 2012.
“We have agreed on the key terms for this, but it’s subject to regulatory approval,” he added. (Reporting by Oslo and Maghreb newsrooms; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
