North Africa Set to Become World’s Top Wheat Importer as Morocco’s Imports Surge

For the campaign starting next July, a rise in cereal purchases to 29.7 million tons is announced, i.e. 7.4% more than the previous season, reports the Ecofin agency. With these figures, North Africa is positioning itself as the world’s leading importer of wheat, ahead of Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.

According to Afric Manager, the volume of wheat imports in Morocco should reach a peak of 5.8 million tons due to forecasts of a 33% drop in production due to the scarcity of rain. A palliative measure has already been found by the government, which has decreed the suspension, until the end of the year, of customs duties applied to soft wheat.

As for Tunisia, a third increase in imports to 2.5 million tons of wheat is expected, due to very low production capacity. As for Algeria, its import volume should increase by 15.3% to 7.5 million tons by 2021. A forecast to be taken with caution given the decline in foreign exchange reserves due to the economic crisis born of the health crisis of the coronavirus.

According to the USDA, Egypt, as the world’s main importer, will record almost stable import volumes in 2020/2021, with purchases of around 13 million tons.