Morocco fertiliser exports cut cadmium, OCP says

Morocco's state-owned phosphate group OCP says all its fertilisers exported to Europe since early last year have contained less than 20 milligrammes of cadmium per kilogramme, below the European Union's maximum limit of 60 milligrammes.

The claim comes as Europe focuses on cadmium in fertilisers and the food chain. Cadmium is a naturally occurring heavy metal in phosphate that can move from fertiliser into farmland and food and is harmful to living organisms.

An EU official told AFP the bloc was “not in a position to verify” whether Moroccan phosphate and fertiliser exports had reduced cadmium content because it lacked a monitoring system. The official said OCP had reported investment in decadmiation technology to keep cadmium in its European exports at or below 20 milligrammes per kilogramme.

OCP, which has a monopoly over Morocco's phosphate industry, says it lowers cadmium by adding specific additives during treatment of phosphoric acid. The company says the metal is captured and separated before the purified acid is used to make fertiliser.

Morocco holds more than two thirds of known global phosphate reserves, estimated at 50 billion metric tonnes including deposits in disputed Western Sahara, and is the world's second-largest producer after China. Europe accounted for 17 percent of OCP exports last year, behind Asia at 41 percent and the Americas at 31 percent.

The industry also faces environmental pressure from phosphogypsum, a fertiliser byproduct containing heavy metals and acidic substances. OCP plans to build a land-based storage facility by 2027 to reduce sea discharges and is researching ways to reuse the waste.

Sylvain Pellerin, a research director at France's INRAE agricultural research institute, said excessive phosphate fertiliser use on crops can contaminate water and emit nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas.