Morocco’s Cheriffian Phosphates Office (OCP) released its first nine months of 2023 results, reporting a notable increase in profitability in 2023’s third quarter compared to its second quarter.
OCP’s competitive advantages, such as its cost leadership, commercial agility, and industrial flexibility, have allowed it to efficiently manage its order book while making significant purchases.
As a result, the Group was able to fully benefit from the increase in pricing, converting a 22% gain in turnover in the third quarter into an increase in EBITDA that was more than three times higher than that of the second quarter of the year.
During the first nine months of 2023, sales of phosphate fertilizers accounted for 69% of revenue, up from 65% in 2022.
The Group remained keenly interested in TSP (trisodium phosphate), a widely used fertilizer for leguminous crop fertilization. After being finished in the second quarter, the first of three new fertilizer manufacturing lines are currently in the ramp-up phase for the production of TSP.
The two extra lines ought to begin service in early 2024. This program is a decent fit for OCP’s modular strategy of growing its capabilities in response to market demands.
OCP additionally published significant figures, such as the following: turnover was MAD 61.035 million, down from MAD 89.538 million in 2022; EBITDA was MAD 17.179 million, down from MAD 42.964 million in 2022; the EBITDA margin was 28%; and investment expenses were MAD 17.830 million, up from MAD 15.226 million in 2022.
While unveiling the highlights of the year, OCP also applauded the US Department of Commerce’s October 2023 decision, which drastically lowered the countervailing charges on Moroccan phosphate fertilizer imports into the US to 2.12% from 19.97%.
During the initial administrative review and verification procedure, the DOC took into account the comprehensive documentation that OCP had submitted. OCP’s dedication to collaborating completely with the DOC review and verification process is reflected by the positive outcome, which led to a notable decrease in pricing.