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Morocco’s OCP Group to Halt Fertilizer Sales in US if Duty Imposed

Morocco’s OCP Group to Halt Fertilizer Sales in US if Duty Imposed
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Morocco’s OCP Group to Halt Fertilizer Sales in US if Duty Imposed

Morocco’s OCP Group to Halt Fertilizer Sales in US if Duty Imposed

Morocco’s OCP group have plans to halt fertilizer sales in the US if the Commerce Department decides to impose an anti-subsidy duty on its products, two senior group officials said on Friday.

The US Commerce Department last week said it had opened an investigation into whether producers of phosphate fertilizers in Morocco and Russia are receiving unfair subsidies.

The investigation was launched after a petition filed by Mosaic Co, a US-based rival fertilizer company, Reuters reported.

According to the officials, the group will challenge the petition, adding that their fertilizers do not receive any form of subsidy from the state.

Last year, US imports of phosphate fertilizers from Morocco were about $729 million, with Russia weighing in at about $299 million, the department said.

“In the unfortunate event of the imposition of a countervailing duty, OCP would be able to redirect its exports towards other markets,” one of the OCP officials said, asking not to be named.

OCP’s fertilizer exports hit 9 million tonnes last year, but a drop in international prices resulted in a 3% decrease in annual revenue to $5.5 billion.

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EU Needs Rare Earths Strategic Reserves against China Threat

File photo: A mining machine is seen at the Bayan Obo mine containing rare earth minerals, in Inner Mongolia, China July 16, 2011. Picture taken July 16, 2011. (Reuters)
File photo: A mining machine is seen at the Bayan Obo mine containing rare earth minerals, in Inner Mongolia, China July 16, 2011. Picture taken July 16, 2011. (Reuters)
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EU Needs Rare Earths Strategic Reserves against China Threat

File photo: A mining machine is seen at the Bayan Obo mine containing rare earth minerals, in Inner Mongolia, China July 16, 2011. Picture taken July 16, 2011. (Reuters)
File photo: A mining machine is seen at the Bayan Obo mine containing rare earth minerals, in Inner Mongolia, China July 16, 2011. Picture taken July 16, 2011. (Reuters)

European Union countries should create joint reserves of rare earths to prevent supply chain disruptions and economic blackmail from China, the EU's Commissioner for Industrial Strategy, Stephane Sejourne, told the Handelsblatt newspaper.

Sejourne also said he would launch further tenders this year to promote alternative raw material sources, the German newspaper said.

"All European countries today have strategic reserves for oil and gas. We should do the same for strategic raw materials," Sejourne was quoted as saying on Monday.

The European Union in June announced 13 new raw material projects outside the bloc to increase its supplies of metals and minerals essential to its competitiveness in the energy transition as well as defense and aerospace.

The announcement followed China's decision in April to impose export curbs on rare earth magnets until new licenses are obtained, leaving diplomats, carmakers and other companies from Europe and elsewhere scrambling to secure meetings with Beijing officials and avert factory shutdowns.

Sejourne also warned Beijing that the EU has the tools to defend itself in a potential trade war. "Europe must finally use the same weapons as its competitors," he said.

China in June said it attached great importance to the EU's concerns and would look into speeding up the approval process to ship rare earth exports to the EU.