Drought-Stricken Morocco Imports 1 Million Tons of French Wheat, More Expected

Morocco should buy 2.5 million tons of soft wheat, or about half of its needs, from France for the season ending in June 2024, Yann Lebeau, head of the Maghreb region at the French cereal exporters’ trade association Intercéréales, tells Reuters. He specifies that France has already exported 1 million tons to the kingdom this summer following the severe drought that hit the country in 2022. Last year, French wheat accounted for 60% of Moroccan imports, or 2.88 million tons, he adds.

Last week, the Moroccan Interprofessional Office of Cereals and Legumes (ONICL) announced that Morocco will grant subsidies to import up to 2 million tons of soft wheat between October 1 and December 31. The import program for the October-December period has been approved by the Moroccan Ministries of Finance and Agriculture, with the details of the subsidies to be published separately, ONICL said in a note posted on its website.

To read:

In June, the Office had set up a restitution system for the import of soft wheat for the benefit of operators. This system consists of the implementation of a flat-rate premium to be paid by the State in favor of importers in case the ex-port cost price is higher than 270 dirhams per quintal. This premium corresponds to the difference between the average ex-port cost price of the month and the rate of 2.7 $/tonne. In this sense, subsidies had allowed the acquisition of a stock of 2.5 million tons of soft wheat on the international market between July and September 2023. The country’s import needs are estimated at around 5 million tons for this season.

Morocco is facing a 5th consecutive year of drought. Wheat production is well below historical averages. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service, the 2023 harvest estimates predicted in June that production would reach 2.98 million tons for soft wheat and 1.18 million tons for durum wheat.