Morocco Resumes Russian Wheat Imports Amid Global Price Drop and Local Harvest Decline

Soft wheat imports from Russia accounted for between 25 and 30% of Morocco’s total wheat purchases, recalled Moulay Abdelkader Alaoui, president of the Moroccan millers’ union, noting that the kingdom also sources from countries such as France, Romania, Poland, Germany, Bulgaria and Turkey.

In a statement to the Al Araby Al Jadeed website, Alaoui indicated that between June and August, Moroccan wheat imports from Russia reached 350,000 tons, compared to 480,000 tons for France, which remains the kingdom’s main supplier.

The resumption of soft wheat imports from Russia comes against a backdrop of a record drop in the harvest in France and a fall in the price of this product on the international market, reaching $28 per quintal, compared to $50 two years ago, after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Alaoui points out.

Moroccan soft wheat imports exceeded 3.95 million tons ($1.11 billion) in the first seven months of 2024, a decrease of around 440,000 tons ($1.21 billion) compared to the same period last year, according to the Foreign Exchange Office.