RABAT, Nov 21: Moroccan phosphate exports will rise in 2007 to $2.8 billion (1.9 billion euros), up from $2.11 billion the previous year, an official in the kingdom’s phosphate office (OCP) said on Wednesday.

“In 2007, there was an improvement in the global market. The demand was much stronger, leading to a rise in prices,” OCP official Ahmed Nebzar told AFP.

“One reason for the price rise was China’s delay in implementing their phosphate projects,” he added.

Morocco is the world’s third largest producer of phosphates, behind the United States and China, but it is the top exporter and holds 70 per cent of the world’s reserves.

Nebzar also announced a new Moroccan-Brazilian joint venture phosphate plant worth $1.8 billion scheduled to open at the beginning of 2008. The complex, created with Brazilian company Bunge, will produce 375,000 tons of phosphoric acid and 300,000 tons of fertiliser per year.

Phosphate sales make up Moroccan’s third-largest source of income, after tourism and remittances from Moroccans living in Europe. —AFP