Drought-hit Morocco is expected to increase soft wheat imports to five million tonnes in the 2023-2024 season, including Russian wheat, according to Reuters.
Omar Yacoubi, president of the National Federation of Grain and Cattany Traders, told Reuters yesterday that Morocco plans to import 2.5 million tonnes of soft wheat by September, but will have to import 2. .5 million additional tonnes by the end of June 2024.
Morocco has extended its subsidies to all wheat imports from July to September, regardless of their origin, to motivate importers, following a below-average national harvest and higher international prices, according to the agency.
Abdelkader Alaoui, president of Morocco’s National Federation of Millers, said two ships were already on their way to Morocco from Russia carrying 100,000 tonnes of wheat.
Alaoui said that although Russian prices remain at a competitive level, importers are having difficulty paying due to Western sanctions against Russia.
He added that cereals of Russian origin will account for five percent of Morocco’s wheat imports, most of which will come from the European Union, particularly France.
Similarly, he estimates, that wheat stocks are sufficient to cover five months of domestic consumption needs from the end of August, in addition to a slight growth in storage capacity to reach 5.2 million tonnes.
Last year, the Moroccan government encouraged increased wheat stocks for more than five months.
However, Mr. Alaoui points out that despite this, “current prices are still not encouraging to increase stocks”.
“Even with the current removal of customs duties, prices on the international market are too high to allow stocks to increase,” he concludes.
