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Despite intensive campaigns led by the Polisario and its support networks across Europe, the Americas, and Oceania, Moroccan exports of phosphates mined in the Sahara rose sharply in 2025. This is one of the key findings of a report published on May 29, 2026, by Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW), an NGO known for its closeness to the Front.
According to the Brussels-based organization, 36 vessels departed from the Sahara coast last year carrying a total of 2.02 million tonnes of phosphate rock. This represents a significant increase from the 1.45 million tonnes exported in 2024. WSRW estimates that export volumes had not reached such levels since 2014.
For comparison, the same NGO reported that 32 ships left the Sahara in 2023 carrying 1.6 million tonnes of phosphate rock, up from 1.2 million tonnes in 2022.
Polisario's silence
As in previous years, India remained the leading importer of phosphates from the Sahara, purchasing 1.34 million tonnes, followed by Mexico with 508,000 tonnes and New Zealand with 171,000 tonnes.
Mexico’s position in the ranking highlights the Polisario’s inability to persuade one of its traditional allies to boycott phosphates from the Sahara. Although Mexico recognizes the «Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR)», this has not affected the country's appetite for Moroccan phosphates. In fact, Mexico ranked as the largest importer in both 2022 and 2023.
The trend comes amid a political and diplomatic context increasingly favorable to Rabat. Over the past two years, several developments have reinforced that momentum, including the new position adopted by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) on Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara and visits by senior Moroccan officials to Mexico, notably the speakers of both chambers of Parliament. The Polisario has thus failed to disrupt economic exchanges between the two countries, starting with phosphate trade.
Indian imports, meanwhile, surged in 2025. The Indian market received an average of two shipments per month, double the rate recorded the previous year, according to the report. WSRW concludes by calling on «the companies involved in this trade to immediately stop all purchases and shipments of phosphates from Western Sahara until a solution to the conflict is found».
Such appeals, however, continue to be largely ignored by multinational companies investing in the region, including the French public utility company Gédia and the American firm GE Vernova, a subsidiary of General Electric.
For their part, Polisario media outlets have yet to report on the study, particularly the section highlighting Mexico’s position as the second-largest importer. The silence recalls the Front’s reaction following the signing of fisheries agreements between Morocco and Russia that included waters off the Sahara, an issue that also received little attention from the movement’s leadership.
