LIBYA-MOROCCO: USD 1 BILLION FOR COMMON PROJECT

By ANSAmed

Morocco and Libya have decide to conduct a study on the possibility to build three plants worth USD 1.0 billion for products containing phosphates, it was reported by MAP agency. The study concerns the building of plants for the production of phosphoric acid (USD 350 million), ammonia (USD 500 million) and fertilisers (USD 150 million). A memorandum of understanding was signed yesterday in Jorf Lasfar (200 km south-west of Rabat), between the Moroccan Agency for the management of phosphates (OCP) and the company Libya Africa Investment (LAI) - one of the biggest in terms of amount of investments in Africa - with the presence of king Mohammed VI of Morocco. The document was signed by Mustapha Terrab, president and general manager of OCP, and by Bashir Saleh Bashir, president and general manager of LAI. The production units of phosphoric acid and ammonia will be built in Jorf Lasfar, a big industrial complex for the production of derivates from phosphates located on the Atlantic coast - at some 100 km south of Casablanca, economic capital of the kingdom - while those producing fertilisers will be built in Libya or in Morocco. It was envisaged that the three plants will have a production capacity of 1.0 million tonnes of phosphoric acid, 800,000 tonnes of ammonia and 1.0 million tonnes of fertilisers. In 2007, the Moroccan exports of phosphates generated a revenue of USD 2.8 billion, OCP said. Morocco is the third producer of phosphates, after the USA and China, and is the first exporter, detaining 70% of the world reserves.