Coronavirus Disrupts Moroccan Economy as Chinese Imports Face Months-Long Delays

The activities of economic operators are slowing down due to the coronavirus. "Because of the coronavirus, all the major international brands are now warning their Moroccan partners importing products from China that they will have a 9 to 12 week delay," says a Moroccan importer.

According to the explanations of the latter, this situation is very delicate insofar as it causes a loss of 20% or even 30% of an importer’s turnover. "Today, a good part of the importers is forced to find another alternative, in particular by importing from other countries such as Indonesia, Thailand... while waiting for a solution to be found to resolve the situation in China," he confides.

China is Morocco’s fourth largest trading partner with whom the kingdom imports various types of products, including green tea, light industrial products, textile products, mechanical and electronic products. In 2018, about 1/5 of Chinese tea exports were poured into the Moroccan market. In total, 70,000 tons of green tea have been annually imported by Moroccan operators from China. In the tourism sector, the hotel industry will record a loss of 28,000 clients in February and 24,000 in March due to the coronavirus, according to forecasts from the National Confederation of Tourism (CNT).

The volume of trade between Morocco and China has seen a marked increase of 50%, and Morocco’s exports to its Chinese partner have strengthened by 60%, according to data from the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM). China’s commercial transactions with Morocco, on the other hand, amounted to 49.8 billion DH in 2018 (i.e. 6.6% of Morocco’s trade). If the situation in China persists, this will have serious repercussions on the Moroccan economy.