Moroccan phosphate and fertilizer giant OCP posted a group net loss of MAD 2.84 billion, around $293 million, in the first half of 2026, compared with a profit of about $852 million a year earlier, according to financial statements published on Tuesday, September 29.

Revenue fell 7.3% to MAD 48.4 billion, around $5 billion. EBITDA, a measure of operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, dropped 28.5% to MAD 13.3 billion as soaring sulfur prices sharply increased the cost of producing phosphate fertilizers, according to OCP’s results statement.

Sulfur was not the only reason OCP fell into the red. The full accounts also show a sharp deterioration in its financial result, from a gain of MAD 2.85 billion a year earlier to a loss of MAD 4.83 billion.

Morocco has the phosphate, but imports the sulfur

Morocco holds 50 billion tonnes of phosphate rock reserves, around 68% of the world’s known total, according to the US Geological Survey. OCP is the country’s sole phosphate producer.

But phosphate rock cannot simply be turned straight into fertilizer. OCP needs large quantities of imported sulfur to process it into the products it sells to farmers around the world.

That dependence became much more expensive after commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz was disrupted. Before the crisis, around half of global sulfur flows passed through Hormuz, OCP executives told Moroccan outlet Médias24 in June. Prices nearly tripled within weeks.

OCP’s half-year results show that the pressure persisted. According to the group, sulfur prices roughly tripled over the first six months of 2026, while fertilizer prices rose by only around 20%. OCP was therefore unable to pass the full increase in its costs on to customers.

At the same time, global trade in phosphate fertilizers fell by around 22%, with weaker demand particularly in India, Europe and Africa.

OCP shifts toward TSP

OCP has adjusted its production to reduce the amount of sulfur it needs.

The group is producing more triple superphosphate (TSP), a fertilizer that uses less sulfur than several of its other products and requires no ammonia. TSP now accounts for 35% of OCP’s fertilizer exports, up from 26% a year earlier, according to its half-year results.

A third TSP production line, with capacity of one million tonnes a year, began operating in July at Jorf Lasfar on Morocco’s Atlantic coast.

OCP also said it had built sulfur inventories before prices surged, brought forward some maintenance work and secured a broader range of suppliers.

Despite the decline in earnings, OCP’s industrial operations remain profitable. Its EBITDA margin stood at 28%, down from 36% a year earlier.

OCP CEO Mostafa Terrab said in the results statement that the group had “maintained a solid margin profile” during the first half.

UM6P looks for alternatives

OCP is also working on ways to rely less on sulfur purchased abroad.

The Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), part of the broader OCP ecosystem, launched a dedicated sulfur research centre in September. Called Sulfex, it is studying new sulfur sources in Morocco and Africa, recycling technologies and ways to reduce or replace sulfur in some industrial processes, according to Médias24.

Researchers are looking in particular at recovering sulfur from phosphogypsum, a by-product of phosphoric acid production. Other work focuses on pyrite, a sulfur-containing mineral previously used by OCP.

The Hormuz crisis has exposed a specific weakness in Morocco’s phosphate industry: the country owns the phosphate rock, but OCP still relies on imported materials to turn much of it into fertilizer. The group is now trying to reduce that dependence through new suppliers, different products and research.