Morocco’s phosphate exports saw a significant increase in 2022, so far reaching MAD 78 billion ($7 billion), a 68% increase from last year’s MAD 46.4 billion ($4.2 billion). Supported by rising fertilizer prices, Morocco’s phosphate exports recorded the highest annual growth of all of Morocco’s exports, followed by aeronautic imports that increased at a 55% annual rate, according to data from the Exchange Office, the country’s foreign trade watchdog. The impressive increase in sales is in line with previous predictions from Fitch, an American for-profit rating agency. In a report published last month, Fitch announced that they increased their fertilizer price outlook upwards, on the backdrop of continuing supply bottlenecks and the forecasted recovery in demand.
In its report, Fitch further explains that Moroccan-sourced phosphate rock is set to average $270 per tonne at the end of 2022, up from $200 per tonne in the previous outlook. Prices of Moroccan-sourced phosphate could take a downward trajectory in 2023, Fitch argues, but it would remain at $160 per tonne, above the $150 per tonne from the previous outlook. The Moroccan company is well-positioned to benefit from high fertilizer prices. At the end of the first half of 2022, the company reported a turnover of close to MAD 56 billion ($5.29 billion), a 72% year-on-year increase.