On 30 May, a giant vessel carrying 70.000 tonnes of phosphate rock departed from Western Sahara and set sail for PotashCorp's plant in Louisiana, United States. The vessel, ‘Marto’ is a Marshall Islands flagged bulk carrier that arrived in the occupied territories on 9 May.
Just three weeks ago, at PotashCorp's Annual General Meeting on 10 May, 31,6 percent of the company's shareholders requested an independent human rights assessment to report on the risks of its operations in Western Sahara.
The phosphate mine in Western Sahara is located in the part of Western Sahara that has been illegally occupied by Morocco since 1975 and is being exploited by Morocco's state-owned phosphate company OCP (Office Chérifien des Phosphates). In 2002, the UN Security Counsel's legal counsel concluded that the exploitation or exploration of Western Sahara's natural resources is in violation of international law if undertaken in disrespect of the wishes and the interests of the Saharawi people. The Saharawis, living under Moroccan occupation or displaced into Algerian refugee camps, have consistently spoken out against the trade in phosphates.
PotashCorp ranked in 2015 as the largest importer of phosphates from Western Sahara. The WSRW report P for Plunder 2015, published in April this year, revealed that the company had imported an estimated 474,000 tonnes, worth approximately US $ 56,5 million. The company maintains that it cannot stop importing because doing so would involve a "political judgment" on their side.
Heidelberg Materials deepens its role in Morocco’s occupation of Western Sahara
The German company confirms once again that its operations in occupied Western Sahara are closely tied to Morocco’s infrastructure expansion in the territory - while continuing to dismiss the Saharawi people’s right to consent.
The conflict phosphates - four decades of plunder
For over 40 years, a Moroccan state-owned company has exported phosphate rock from occupied Western Sahara.
Record low number of importers of Western Sahara phosphates
Only three companies imported phosphate rock from occupied Western Sahara in 2025 - the lowest number ever recorded. The findings appear in our annual P for Plunder report, released today.
One of the richest coastlines in the world
The fish stocks of occupied Western Sahara have not only attracted the interest of the Moroccan fleet: other foreign interests are also fishing in the occupied waters through arrangements with Moroccan counterparts. Along the Western Saharan coastline, a processing industry has emerged.