PHOSBOUCRAA

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About phosboucraa

More than 50 years of history

Phosboucraa was established in 1962 by the Spanish state-owned company INI with mining operations at Boucraa starting in 1972. OCP Group acquired a 65% ownership share of Phosboucraa in 1976 and became the sole owner in 2002. Its activity consists of mining, processing and marketing phosphate rock. Phosboucraa represents approximately 4.6% of OCP Group’s total revenue, 3.7% of EBITDA, 8.2% of its extracting capacity in 2016.

Phosboucraa’s activities are located in 3 different places :

  • Mining activities are located 140 km away by road from Laâyoune, thus far from any possible shipping area
  • The beneficiation plant and the wharf are located at Laâyoune beach, 20 km away from the city. A 102 km long conveyor belt is used for transporting phosphates from the Mine to Laâyoune beach
  • Headquarters are located in Laâyoune city

Boucraa’s mine - 1970

With an installed mining capacity of 2.6 million tons per year, Phosboucraa operates the smallest phosphate ore deposit owned by OCP Group, since it represents approximately 2% of Morocco’s Phosphate reserves, according to the US Geological Survey and the International Fertilizer Development Center.

 

 

Strengthening and structuring the socioeconomic development of the Region through investments

Approximately 70% of the total investments to develop Phosboucraa since its creation have been made since 2002, when Phosboucraa became fully owned by OCP. These investments have led to significant improvements in operational efficiency and allowed for a greater consolidation of assets, including substantial improvement of the company’s sustainability overall.
The current investment program will profoundly overhaul Phosboucraa’s industrial capabilities over the 2014-2022 period. OCP Group has dedicated a significant share of its global investment program to the development of Phosboucraa (i.e. approximately 10% of the Group’s total CAPEX). This new round of investments is not only intended to ensure the long-term sustainability of the mining operations but it also aims at actively promoting the social and economic development of the Region, which is fully aligned with OCP Group’s strategy implemented in all of its mining and industrial sites, including:
  • Investing in regional development projects
  • Promoting the emergence of a local network of suppliers and subcontractors
  • Initiating structurally transformational projects in the areas where the Group operates
     

Boucraa’s mine - 2015

A major contributor to the regional economy

Phosboucraa is a major contributor to the local and regional economy: The OPEX and the industrial investments both contribute to actively sustain a growing network of 50 local SMEs, suppliers, and service providers employing over 1 000 people. Direct and indirect employment opportunities to employees in the Region and from the Region has always been one of Phosboucraa’s main contribution especially since 2002. With an average annual revenue of USD 200 Million, Phosboucraa is engaged in a development program of approximately USD 2.2 Billion to move Phosboucraa’s operations up the value chain from raw materials to intermediate products and phosphate fertilizers by 2022. (including mining expansions, phosphoric acid units, fertilizer units, new storage capacity, port construction, etc.), will build upon the strengthening, in the process, of the local business ecosystem and the share of local content creation. This will generate substantial local value adding activities just as the other OCP Group site-specific investments programs have boosted their respective local economies and Regions. For the local communities and businesses, the benefits of this strategy are immediate and transformational in the long run.

Thanks to the vision and means put forward by OCP Group, Phosboucraa, its employees, their families and all of the Region will reap the benefits of a productive and localized mining and industrial value chain. Such a value chain will sustainably generate jobs and add value for the regional economy and its inhabitants for many more generations.