# Morocco’s Phosphate Cargo Auctioned in South Africa After Pro-Polisario Verdict

> A South African High Court in Port Elizabeth opened an exclusive bid auction for a 55,000-tonne Moroccan phosphate cargo detained in May 2017 after a pro-Polisario ruling. The court ruled that OCP does not own the phosphate and cannot sell it to New Zealand's Ballance Agri-Nutrients. The auction runs 30 days from March 19 with a starting bid of about $1 million.

- Date: 2018-03-20 · published 2018-03-20T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: geopolitics · region South Africa · magnitude low
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/66308-morocco-s-phosphate-cargo-auctioned-in-south-africa-after-pro-polisario-verdict
- Commodities: [Phosphate Rock](https://feedsoft.ai/c/PHOSROCK.md), [DAP](https://feedsoft.ai/c/DAP.md)

## Why it matters

The cargo is small relative to global phosphate trade and is unlikely to move prices materially, though legal disruption to Western Sahara phosphate flows adds some supply uncertainty.

## Read by commodity

- DAP: neutral
- PHOSROCK: neutral

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DAP | 2022-06-13 | [Morocco counters Russia’s weaponization of the food-energy nexus - Middle East Institute](https://feedsoft.ai/events/41285-morocco-counters-russia-s-weaponization-of-the-food-energy-nexus-middle-east.md) | +3.4% | +3.6% |
| DAP | 2026-07-06 | [How Morocco’s fertiliser giant OCP was shaken by the Hormuz crisis](https://feedsoft.ai/events/18680-how-morocco-s-fertiliser-giant-ocp-was-shaken-by-the-hormuz-crisis.md) | +2.0% | +6.5% |
| DAP | 2026-10-01 | [A Wish List to Reset Fertilizer Prices](https://feedsoft.ai/events/17035-a-wish-list-to-reset-fertilizer-prices.md) | -0.3% | 0.0% |

## Sources

- moroccoworldnews.com: https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2018/03/91354/moroccos-phosphate-cargo-south-africa-polisario/

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.