OCP partners with Budenheim and Prayon to double phosphoric acid production

Morocco’s phosphates and fertilizer producer, OCP, partnered with German and Belgian partners, Budenheim and Prayon, to build a new plant for the production of purified phosphoric acid.

This will be achieved through their subsidiary Euro Maroc Phosphor (EMAPHOS) in a project that will help the OCP consolidate its global leadership in the production of Purified Wet Process phosphoric acid, the group said in a statement.

The plant will be based in Jorf Lasfar platform benefiting from major synergies and economies of scale thanks to its direct access to the infrastructures, shared services and raw materials made available to it by OCP within this platform.

The plant seeks to double the annual production capacity of EMAPHOS from 140,000 total phosphorus (TP) 205 per year to 280,000 TP 205 per year in the 4th quarter of 2022.

OCP Group said the doubling of capacity will “also make part of the production available to the OCP for recovery in the future in the form of niche products based on purified acid, thus making it possible to strengthen the status of the Group of global producers of specialty phosphate products.”

Beyond these economic advantages, this new plant will rely on and capitalize on the expertise and knowhow developed over more than two decades by the technical staff of EMAPHOS.

The companies completed the basic engineering studies in March 2020. The project is under a detailed studies phase.

The start of construction works is scheduled for the first quarter of 2021.