More than 50 years of history

Phosphates de Boucraâ (Phosboucraa) is a corporation registered under Moroccan law and a wholly owned subsidiary of OCP since 2002.

Phosboucraa was founded in 1962 by the National Institute for Industry (INI), a Spanish state-owned financing and industrial holding company. In 1976, OCP acquired a 65% stake in Phosboucraa. The OCP-INI joint-venture continued until 2002 when OCP purchased the remaining 35% equity stake held by INI. Since then, Phosboucraa has been a fully owned subsidiary of OCP, managed in accordance with the same international quality and sustainability standards as all the other mining and industrial facilities of OCP Group.

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 1.6% of Morocco's total reserves.

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 2014-2020 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

A strong commitment for the benefit of local communities

In addition to the creation of local jobs and on top of the social and educational services provided to Phosboucraa’s employees and their families, the local communities at large also greatly benefit from the direct commitment of Phosboucraa. For instance, over the period 2012-2020, Phosboucraa engaged about MAD 1.8 billion to social projects that benefited the wider public, such as the promotion of sports and arts, the financing of urban infrastructures, the support of charities and civil society associations.

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. The 2014-2020 investment program, which amounts to approximately MAD 17 Billion (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.

Long-term sustainability

Long-term sustainability and expansion are the actual leitmotiv of the development strategy of Phosboucraa. This is the reason why sustainable solutions are also required with regards to water and energy supply. Thanks to the investments already made, more than 95% of Phosboucraa’s power is provided through the wind farm of Foum El Oued, near Laayoune, and which saves more than 80 000 tons of CO2 equivalent per year.

In addition, when the fertilizer production lines will be completed and operational by 2020, their Heat Recovery System (HRS) will generate electric power in excess of 150 Gw/h, which will be added to the grid and will allow for additional seawater desalination capacity.

OCP Group’s water policy reflects its commitment to preserve the environment, as this is an absolute priority for Morocco as a whole.

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.