Rabat – Speakers specialized in trade and agriculture discussed on Wednesday the importance of cooperation with Morocco in a webinar that focused on the theme “Morocco-Brazil: Agro-industry Connects Continents.”
The specialists recalled that cooperation between Brazil and Morocco has increased in recent years, especially in the agriculture sector.
The Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce organized the webinar, which also saw the participation of executive director of OCP-Brazil, Olavio Takenaka.
Takenaka said that Brazil has become one of the largest exporters of agricultural products in the world in the past 10 years, with exports of $100 billion per year.
Brazil’s OCP head acknowledged that the country suffers from a certain deficiency in phosphorus and organic substances, and therefore it remains dependent on imports of fertilizers.
The country imports 60% of its phosphate demands.
The OCP official emphasized that Morocco is a strategic supplier for Brazil.
A report from OCP Group in May said the company maintained its position as the world’s largest exporter of raw phosphate in 2019 despite a decline in its market share between January and September.
OCP maintained its position as the world’s largest exporter of phosphoric acid with a 49% market share. Its exports of phosphoric acid stood at 1.5 million tons at the end of the third quarter of 2019 compared to 1.37 million tons in the same period in 2018.
The group’s fertilizer exports reached nine million tons in 2019, compared to 8.4 million tons in 2018.
OCP also maintained its position as the largest fertilizer exporter to Africa.
Morocco’s OCP supports Brazil’s agriculture growth
Takenaka recalled that Morocco’s OCP has created 10 branches in the main agricultural regions of Brazil, which will increase next year to 15 subsidiaries.
“OCP supports Brazilian growth in the agricultural sector both in raw material and in terms of finished products,” Takenaka said.
Researcher at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Company Alexandre Morais do Amaral believes the agriculture sector in Brazil offers several partnership opportunities.
“This sector marked an exponential development during the last 50 years.” The researcher said agricultural land increased by 33%, and whole dual cropping areas by 340%.
Brazil’s agricultural attache in Morocco, Nilson Cesar Guimaraes, said agriculture is a sector of primary importance for Morocco.
Morocco managed to diversify agriculture output through promotion of products with high added value.
“Trade between Morocco and Brazil has increased significantly in 2020. In the first half, exports increased by 51.3% over a year ago, and Morocco became the third-biggest destination for Brazilian agricultural exports in Africa,” he said.