Morocco will invest 420 million dirhams (about €39 million) to process 860,000 tonnes (948,000 tons) of phosphate-rich mineral fines into fertilizer, the industry ministry announced in Rabat. The three-country supply plan follows the public disclosure by a former engineer at Tifawin Mineral Works that tests once shelved by the producer showed the dusty by-product could be upgraded for agricultural use.
The first shipments are due in 2028, with the plant expected to reach annual output of 180,000 tonnes (198,000 tons) by 2029. Senegal and Mauritania will receive part of the supply under a new agreement, while Morocco says the project will also reduce waste at the coastal processing site near Safi.
The test results return
Raistė Vitalis, a former quality-control engineer at Tifawin, said she came forward after reviewing samples from a pilot run completed in 2024. She said the material had been set aside because the company was focused on higher-grade output and because processing it required a new washing stage. The ministry said independent laboratory tests confirmed the samples met its proposed fertilizer standard.
“We were treating a useful resource as a pile to be moved out of sight,” Vitalis said at the announcement. She said she submitted the test results to the industry ministry on 6 November and agreed to be identified publicly when officials decided to proceed. No finding of wrongdoing has been made against the company or its staff.
We were treating a useful resource as a pile to be moved out of sight.
Raistė Vitalis, former quality-control engineer
Industry minister Louise Vincent-Roussel said the project would pay for a processing line, water-reuse equipment and training for local operators. The government expects the plant to use 35% less fresh water per tonne than a conventional phosphate-washing process, based on its pilot measurements. It will publish quarterly production and water-use figures once commercial output begins.
A regional supply route
The fines have accumulated beside Tifawin’s processing works near Safi, a port city south of Casablanca that handles much of Morocco’s phosphate trade. The new line will separate and refine the material before blending it into granular fertilizer. The ministry said testing found no levels of unwanted metals that would prevent its use under the planned product standard.
Senegal and Mauritania will buy through a shared procurement arrangement, with deliveries scheduled around planting seasons. Sandro F. Amato, an agricultural economist advising the project, said smaller orders would let cooperatives buy fertilizer in stages rather than commit to a full season’s supply at once. “The value is not just in making more,” he said. “It is in making supply easier to plan.”
Morocco has agreed to offer the two partners a fixed share of output for five years, although prices will still track international phosphate benchmarks. The deal also includes a training programme for 120 technicians and agronomists, and a review after the first two harvest cycles. Officials said the contract would not restrict Morocco’s existing commercial exports.
From waste to first deliveries
The project’s first phase will prepare the site and install the washing and granulation equipment, with construction due to start in January. Tifawin will fund part of the cost; the state-backed development bank will provide the remainder as a repayable loan. The ministry said the investment was approved only after the pilot results and water-use estimates were checked.
Annette Lohmann, a soil specialist at a Moroccan agricultural research centre, said the product would still need careful field trials across different crops and soils. The first trials are planned with farming cooperatives in the three countries next spring. “A lower-cost source matters only if the fertilizer performs consistently,” she said. “These trials will tell us where it works best.”
The ministry expects the first finished product to leave Safi in early 2028, initially in shipments of 20,000 tonnes (22,000 tons). Vitalis said she hoped the public schedule would keep the project from being quietly shelved again. For farmers facing volatile imported fertilizer prices, officials said, the first test will be whether those bags arrive before the next planting window.
