Rabat - Morocco’s fertilizer giant OCP released a new report uncovering its good performances marked by high demand and sales as well as the strengthening of the group’s regional leadership in the fertilizer industry.
The global context, particularly the Russia-Ukraine conflict, has served fertilizer groups -- including Morocco’s OCP Group favorably.
Double-Digit Revenue Growth
According to the report, the group made a turnover of $11.28 billion in 2022, representing a 36% increase compared to a year earlier.
The group attributed the development to the increase in selling prices in terms of its products, including phosphate rock.
Phosphate rock is used in agriculture for soil fertilization. Farmers use rock phosphates to increase yield production as well as for industrial needs.
The rock sales increased 51% year-over-year due to improved pricing, amid lower export volumes to key importing regions, OCP emphasized.
Meanwhile, phosphoric acid revenue increased slightly up 1% “as lower export volumes, mainly to Europe and India, were largely offset by higher phosphoric acid prices. The drop in volumes to India primarily resulted from a shift to fertilizers to accommodate market trends and delayed second-quarter acid imports,” according to the group.
In addition, the company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization -- also known as EBITDA increased by 38% year-over-year and reached $4.93 billion. Improved pricing, therefore, helped EBITDA margin to reach 44%.
Commenting on the achievement, OCP said that the performance reflects the group’s “solid growth strategy and its commitment.”
The group also expressed satisfaction with its strategy which helped the company to maintain its resilience amid the global context.
“During 2022, phosphate fertilizer prices reached exceptionally high levels, owing to a number of key factors,” OCP said, citing supply chain disruptions, export restrictions, and input costs.
Celebrating the significant double-digit revenue growth, the company said that this was driven by a 44% increase in fertilizer. This accounted for a record 64% of total revenue compared to 61% in 2021.
With recent development, the group’s gross profit moved from $6.12 billion to $6.93 billion within one year (2021-2022).
OCP’s high-demand markets
The company also listed the markets in which the OCP group is boosting its industry -- stressing that it has focused its sales on different high-demand markets, including South America, Asia, and Africa.
“This strategy has been successful, testifying to the solid position of our company, in these expanding markets, as well as our ability to adapt to the needs of our customers,” the group stressed.
The report also quoted CEO of OCP Mostafa Terrab’s renewed commitment to continuing to enhance the group’s competitiveness.
Terrab also recalled OCP’s investment program, whose second phase was launched recently.
The program, according to Terrab, seeks to enhance and support the group’s “operational efficiency through capacity expansions and targeted sustainability investments around solar energy, water and Green Ammonia.”
The group launched its second phase green investment plan with a total of $13 billion to be applied over the 2023-2027 period.
The plan, which seeks to boost the group’s international position, covers investments in renewables and green hydrogen.
Food security remains a top priority
The OCP group launched several initiatives as part of its commitment to contribute to improving sustainable agriculture worldwide.
The initiatives include the donation of fertilizers to several countries as well as discounted fertilizer to help smallholder farmers across the world. The discounted fertilizers covered 550,000 tonnes of fertilizers in 2022 to mitigate the impact of soaring material prices and drought.
OCP also reiterated its commitment to continue helping farmers through dedicating four million tonnes of fertilizers on the continent in 2023.
The fertilizers will help over 44 million farmers in 35 countries to use the right fertilizers to boost their yields.
The group has long expressed eagerness to continue boosting sustainable agriculture on the continent.
OCP’s CEO renewed the group’s objectives in a recent interview with the Financial Times, which was published in February. The interview reflected OCP’s strategy to help Africa.
“We [in Africa] should be totally self-sufficient, and even export,” Terrab said, emphasizing that “big opportunities” exist on the continent.
The group also stressed the importance of fertilizers to help develop the potential of the continent, whose use of fertilizer remains low.
“Compared with other developing regions, fertilizer consumption in Africa has only risen marginally between the years 2000 to 2015,” a joint study from the African nation Commission and the UN Economic Commission for Africa confirmed.
Despite the continent’s potential, food security remains one of the most concerning challenges amid population growth.
A 2022 report from the World Bank shared troubling data, suggesting that at least one in five people in Africa goes to bed hungry.
Moreover, over 140 million people on the continent are facing acute food insecurity, the report added.
