Oslo-based Yara International has entered into a 50:50 joint venture agreement with Office Cherifien des Phosphates (OCP), a provider of Moroccan phosphate.
The joint venture allows OCP to gain a 50% interest in Yara's existing terminal and production plant in Rio Grande, Brazil.
Yara said its Rio Grande plant takes up to some 350,000t of phosphate rock to produce up to 650,000t of single super phosphate.
Under the venture agreement, OCP's phosphate rock will be imported to Brazil before being processed by Yara into fertiliser and other phosphate products, with OCP providing raw materials to Yara plants in Europe in return.
Reuters reports that OCP will gain access to Yara's Rio Grande plant's existing port, terminal and storage facilities, and that they will both develop the plant through investments in the short to medium-term.
Yara chief executive Joergen Ole Haslestad said Brazil is a fast-growing agricultural market where they, Yara together with OCP, are creating a strong platform for further growth.
"Furthermore, we are securing long-term raw material supply for our European nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium-based fertiliser (NPK) plants," Haslestad added. "Both of these initiatives strengthen our competitive advantage within the production and marketing of value-added fertiliser."
OCP and Yara expect that the investment and the agreements will be completed in the first quarter of 2012, subject to regulatory approval.
Yara is engaged in converting energy, natural minerals and nitrogen from the air into essential products for farmers and industrial customers.
Yara supplies mineral fertilisers and provides food and biomass, which can be used for renewable energy, and its industrial product portfolio includes environmental protection agents that prevent air pollution.
