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.
