THE MINERAL INDUSTRY OF MOROCCO 
659 
 
NONMETALS 
 
 Cement.—.-Local cement consumption estimated at 3.5 million tons
for
the year, decreased during 1978 as demand from the construction industry
slowed. At the end of August, consumption was estimated at 2,376,000 tons,
down 30% for the same 1977 period. There was also a reduction in cement imports,
which at the end of August were down by about 28.5%. Imports were expected
to continue to decline as several new Moroccan plants came onstream. The
Cimenterie. de l'Oriental plant (1.2 million tons' yearly capacity) at Oujda
came onstream in late, 1979. The new company was to be called Cimenterie
Maghrebine (CIMA). A new facility was also built for Asement de Temara S.A.
near Rabat (690,000 tons' yearly capacity) with the first phase of 360,000
tons completed during the second quarter of 1979 and the final startup by
1982. The Blue Circle Oroup's Consultancy Services was contracted to establish
the feasibility of and to construct a new millionton cement plant at Casablanca
Sud. A new 760,000-ton-per-year plant was also to be built at Fgih Bin Salah
in the Tadlu area. Morocco's cement production target was 7.6 million tons
by 1982. 
 Phosphate Rock.—Morocco's Office Cherifien des Phosphate (OCP)
was
proceeding ahead with plans for a major expansion of phosphate mining and
processing, designed to reinforce the country's position as the world's largest
exporter of phosphate rock. Several loans were secured during 1978-79 as
progress continued toward this goal. In 1979, OCP negotiated a loan for $200
million from a consortium of European, Arabian, and Japanese banks, but without
any specific project in mind. The World Bank approved a loan of $50 million
for construction of the Maroc Phosphore II phosphate processing plant. The
project was cofinanced by a loan of $13.7 million from Poland and would need
an overall investment of about $124.4 million. Late in 1978, a medium-term
Eurocurrency loan of $150 million was granted to OCP by a consortium of 36
international banks, led by the Banque Marocaine du Commerce Exterieur (BMCE).
This loan was to finance new projects at Ben Guerir and Khouribga. Under
development, the open cast mine at Benguerir was to come onstream in 1980
with a capacity of 600,000 tons per year; by 1984, it was to produce 2 million
tons per year of phosphate rock at the Maroc Phosphore II plant. OCP was
installing a Krupp 
built impact jaw crusher at Ben Guerir, the largest of its kind in the world
and capable of processing 800 tons of rock per hour. At Khouribga, Recette
IV was to be developed as an open pit mine, producing 2.6 million tons of
phosphate rock per year by 1981, and increasing to 3.9 million tons per year
by 1982. Current production capacity of the Khouribga-Casabianca area was
about 16 million tons per year with a treatment capacity of about 19 million
tons per year. In 1978, 14,461,000 tons of phosphate rock was produced at
Khouribga, and 4,812,000 tons was produced at Youssoufia. 
 OCP also obtained a $100 million loan from the international financial market
for phosphate processing at Safi. It was to be used to finance equipment
at the Qued Zem complex and for an extension to Maroc Phosphore I, raising
the capacity to 660,000 tons of phosphoric acid. Polimex-Cekop of Poland
was to have a $26.4 million contract to equip the sulfuric acid unit at Safi.
The contract was a barter deal with OCP under which Poland was to import
phosphate rock. In 1978, OCP's phosphoric acid capacity at Safi was 850,000
tons per year. When the fourth line of Maroc Phosphore I and the Maroc Phosphore
II project are completed in 1980, this capacity will rise to 1.5 million
tons per year. The European Investment Bank (EIB) was to lend Morocco $52
million for building the phosphate rock port at Jorf Lasfur, 80 kilometers
south of Casablanca. A new major fertilizer complex, Maroc Phosphore III,
will also be developed at Jorf Lasfur. The first stage, producing 1,500 tons
per day of phosphoric acid from Khouribga phosphate, will begin in 1983.
This output will be doubled to 3,000 tons per day by 1985. The first phase
also includes washing and drying facilities for 3 million tons per year of
phosphate rock, to be obtained from Sidi Hajjaj. 
 Geological studies were underway at the Meskala-Essouira phosphate deposits
as well as studies for a new port at Cap. Sim. The new port was to be built
after Jorf Lasfar has been completed. Much of the production from the Meskala
area was destined for the Soviet Union, under a major cooperation agreement
signed in 1977. Studies were continuing on the deposits at Sidi Hajjaj. The
first stage of production, with a capacity of three million tons per year,
was scheduled to begin in 1983. 
 Western Sahara.—Although shipments of phosphate rock from the
Bu Craa
Mine stockpiles had resumed by the fourth quarter of 1977 and continued to
be delivered by