Morocco’s Cherifien Office of Phosphates reported decreased sales as of the end of September 2023, bringing in revenues of only 61.035 Bln MAD compared to 89.538 Bln MAD Y-O-Y last year. This decrease of 28% is due to a decrease in OCPs prices across all product categories compared to the extraordinarily high prices it charged in 2022, according to a press statement from OCP.
The sharp decline was offset in part, however, by greater export volumes and by rising worldwide demand in OCP’s primary export markets, including South America and Europe.
In local currency, rock sales were down 42% year on year, while phosphoric acid sales were down 50%.
OCP’s export volumes rebounded strongly in the third quarter, making up for some of the rock and acid sales deferrals experienced in the first half of the year.
Gross margin amounted to 32.186 Mln MAD as against 56.246 Mln MAD recorded a year earlier, mainly impacted by the high costs of raw material inventories previously built up and by the significant accumulation of inventories in 2022.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the first nine months of 2023 amounted to 17.179 Mln MAD, compared with 42.964 Mln MAD for the same period last year, resulting in an EBITDA margin of 28%.
OCP noted that during the third quarter of 2023, world phosphate fertilizer prices showed a gradual recovery after their decline in the second quarter, mainly due to the reduction in Chinese exports and higher demand in most key markets.
Low inventory levels and favorable economic conditions for farmers, notably in the United States, Europe, and India, fueled this increase in demand.
In addition, the prices of raw materials, notably ammonia, have climbed since July due to unanticipated outages and rising gas prices in Europe.