Coromandel: New buyer of conflict rock from occupied Western Sahara
Article image

The Indian company Coromandel Fertiliser Ltd last week for the first time acquired phosphate rock from occupied Western Sahara.

Published 21 January 2019

The vessel had departed El Aaiún in Western Sahara on 12 December 2018 carrying approximately 60.000 tonnes of the mineral. The trade is seen to finance the illegal occupation of the territory, and Morocco's exports take place in violation of international law and rulings.

From what Western Sahara Resource Watch has been able to establish, the importer is Coromandel International Limited. The vessel only spent 36 hours in port, and WSRW believes that only a smaller part - perhaps around 10.000 tonnes - of the vessel's cargo was destined for Coromandel. After completing its mission in the port, SBI Jaguar departed the harbour of Visakhapatnam in the early morning of 18 January, heading further north along the Indian coast. When it arrives at the port of Paradip, it is to discharge the remainder of the cargo, destined for the Paradip-based company PPL, that has already been involved in the controversial trade for some time. 

WSRW on 18 January sent a letter to Coromandel to ask whether it had fulfilled the legal requirement of obtaining prior consent from the representatives of the territory for such trade, and whether this was a one-off import. 

Coromandel is, according to its own 2018 annual report, the second biggest phosphatic fertiliser player in India. The company is registered on the National Stock Exchange of India, and has several large international investors among its owners. According to its latest annual report, the Norwegian Government Pension Fund, which has systematically blacklisted companies engaging in the controversial trade which it considers a "particularly serious violation of fundamental ethical norms" as of 31 December 2017 owned 1% of Coromandel International, at a value of 27 million USD. 

SBI Jaguar is owned, operated and managed by Scorpio Commercial Management from Monaco, but sailing under the Marshall Islands flag, IMO number 9700055. Scorpio was also behind the last ever shipment of the conflict mineral to Europe, on board the vessel SBI Flamenco, which in September-October 2016 transported 75.000 tonnes of rock from Western Sahara to the port of Klaipeda, Lithuania. WSRW contacted Scorpio on 14 June 2017 on the email address operations@scorpiogroup.net, but did not receive a response. 

It is not normal that competing companies share the cost of shipments, as is the case now with the SBI Jaguar. For a number of years, the importers in Venezuela and Colombia shared the cargo costs. The two Latin-American countries are among the many that stopped the trade during the last years. The number of importing countries has been reduced from 13 in 2011 to 3 in 2019 after more information about the trade and its legal, ethical and human rights implications has surfaced. 

New report: Western Sahara phosphate trade halved

The export of phosphate rock from occupied Western Sahara has never been lower than in 2019. This is revealed in the new WSRW report P for Plunder, published today.

24 February 2020

New report on Western Sahara phosphate industry out now

Morocco shipped 1.93 million tonnes of phosphate out of occupied Western Sahara in 2018, worth an estimated $164 million, new report shows. Here is all you need to know about the volume, values, vessels and clients.

08 April 2019

With Suez closed, Morocco reopens abandoned route

Morocco has for six years avoided directing plunder vessels via South Africa, whose courts have ruled the phosphate plunder of occupied Western Sahara to be illegal. First test is taking place now. 

28 December 2023

The conflict phosphates - four decades of plunder

For over 40 years, a Moroccan state-owned company has exported phosphate rock from occupied Western Sahara.  

11 May 2023