The Polisario warns a Chinese firm against importing phosphate rocks from the Sahara

The Polisario is angry at Sinochem Corporation, a Chinese conglomerate engaged in the production and trading of chemicals and fertilizer. In a letter sent to the company’s CEO, the Front’s member M’Hamed Khaddad warned the group against its «illegal, unethical and immoral import of stolen phosphate cargos from the occupied territories of Western Sahara».

The coordinator of the separatist movement with MINURSO called on the Chinese firm to stop «phosphate rocks imports» until the «UN decolonization process in Western Sahara is achieved», SPS reports.

Khaddad also expressed his movement's willingness to meet managers from the Chinese firm to «discuss these issues».

Sinochem Group is a loyal customer of the Office Cherifien des Phosphates (OCP). Their first links started in 1958. In October 2017, OCP and Sinochem signed a five-year agreement giving, allowing the Chinese firm to get 5 million tons of Moroccan phosphates.

On Wednesday, July 24, despite pressure from the Polisario, a Liberian-flagged vessel docked at the port of Tauranga, New Zealand, carrying 55,000 tons of phosphate from Phosboucraa, a subsidiary of OCP.