Morocco’s Beloved Green Tea Faces Price Pressure Amid Global Market Shifts

Green tea is one of the most essential products in Morocco, with domestic consumption estimated at 75,000 tons per year, 25% of which is imported from China, reports Les Inspirations Éco. According to Mohamed Astaib, president of the Moroccan Association of Tea and Coffee Industries (AMITC), cited by the daily, "the massive and simultaneous intervention in international markets [in 2020]... led to the dizzying rise in maritime freight rates, which went from $6,000 to practically $20,000 for a 40-foot container."

Economic operators are trying to find alternatives to avoid a new increase in order not to impact the Moroccan consumer. "The prospects for an improvement in the situation are slim... International financial institutions predict that 2023 will be a year of recession during which the growth rate will certainly decline," specifies the same source.

"Our import declarations, filed with customs for the release for consumption of our products, necessarily show a higher declared value due to this new parity of the dollar against the Moroccan dirham... Our production costs are doubly impacted, both by the increase in international prices and by the rise in our declared values at the customs level," also explains Mohamed Astaib. For the moment, no shortage of green tea is looming on the horizon, but a price increase is not to be ruled out.