The OCP Group maintains its position as the world's leading exporter of phosphates despite a decreasing market share from 38% to 34% over the period January-September 2019. Exports of raw phosphate by the Group fell from 11 million tons (MT) in 2018 to 9.5 MT in 2019, impacted by a global decrease of 6% in raw phosphate exports during the first 9 months of 2019 compared to the same period in 2018, OCP indicated in its management report for the fiscal year 2019. «In this context, OCP has seen its exports to North America decline due to Nutrien's capacity closures», the document added. Concerning Acid, OCP remains No. 1 worldwide with 49% market share, up 2% year-on-year, the report stated, noting that the Group was able to increase its market share in acid globally and in Asia in particular, which offset the decline in the European market. The Group's acid exports stood at 1.5 MT P2O5 at the end of the third quarter of 2019, compared to 1.37 MT P2O5 a year earlier. As for fertilizers, OCP managed to keep its market share thanks to the flexibility of its product and regional portfolio, in a market marked by an oversupply and a declining demand in Asia. Thanks to its new fertilizer capacities and its flexibility, OCP managed to develop its fertilizer exports, by achieving a global volume of 9 MT over the year 2019 against 8.4 MT in 2018. OCP was able to take advantage of the increase in demand in America and Europe to place more volumes and therefore increase its market share in the region from 32% and 29% respectively over the January-September 2018 period to 35% and 33% over January-September 2019. In addition, OCP Group confirms its position as the leading fertilizer exporter to Africa with nearly 58% market share at the end of 2019 despite a drop in exports to Africa, the document pointed out, noting that OCP's fertilizer exports to Sub-Saharan Africa declined from 1.9 MT in 2018 to 1.8 MT in 2019.
