Jorf Lasfar: Brazil and OCP Nutricrops Sign for 3.8 Million Tonnes of Fertilizer

razil’s Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Andre de Paula, signed the memorandum of understanding binding his ministry to OCP Nutricrops on Friday, September 18, at the Jorf Lasfar industrial site. The document sets a reference volume of 3.8 million tonnes of phosphate fertilizer for Brazilian operators over the 2026-2027 period, with triple superphosphate at its center, rounded out by formulas adjusted to soils and crops. Faris Derrij, chief executive of OCP Nutricrops, co-signed it. The Brazilian ministry adds one qualification the relays largely passed over: the purchase remains conditional on the commercial terms operators will negotiate with the group themselves. A memorandum of understanding is not a sales contract.

The protocol does not stop at tonnage. It opens five axes of cooperation: securing and sustaining supply, developing triple superphosphate as a lever for tailored solutions, plant nutrition and the health of Brazilian soils, innovation and sustainable agriculture, and finally research, training and the sharing of expertise. Brazil, a considerable agricultural power, imports the bulk of the fertilizer it consumes, and that dependence has become a matter of public policy in Brasilia. The minister’s tour already said as much: Angola first, then a business seminar in Casablanca on September 17, then Rabat, the Moroccan agriculture ministry and ICARDA, before the descent to the Doukkala coast. Morocco would thus have moored one more great agricultural market to its rock, and by the end of 2027 it will be clear what this protocol actually loaded onto the ships.

Photo: JOSIANE P., CC BY-SA 3.0.