Morocco Adjusts Wheat Import Subsidies to Boost Eastern European Grain Supplies

"The flat-rate premium calculated for a given month is applied to imports whose loading, from the port of origin, took place between the 1st and the last day of the same month," announces the National Interprofessional Office of Cereals and Legumes (ONICL) in a circular dated March 8. No more arrivals in Morocco before the end of the month. "Arrivals made from March 1, 2023 and whose loading took place before that date benefit (however) from the flat-rate premium for March 2023."

"This amendment has been made to the conditions of the subsidy in order to encourage imports from the Black Sea region, which includes Russia and Ukraine," explains a manager within the ONICL to the Reuters agency. According to him, this modification will increase competition in a Moroccan import market dominated by wheat from France and other European Union suppliers.