Textile Manufacturers Struggle Despite Partial Lift on Mask Export Ban

According to Moulay Hafid Elalamy, Minister of Industry, Trade and Green and Digital Economy, textile manufacturers have the possibility to export up to 50% of their production, and to reserve the second part for meeting national needs.

However, these measures do not satisfy the textile manufacturers. And for good reason, "apart from the operators who can opt for temporary admissions and export, those who work with local raw materials and who employ, for example, national spinners, do not have the possibility to export," confides to Challenge.ma, a textile manufacturer who requested anonymity.

"Selling 50% of our production on the national territory, let’s admit it! But still, we have to manage to do it. Yet, if the cost price is high, and if the mask has to be sold for around 5 DH, we cannot get out of it reasonably," he points out. He explains: "they would have to be sold between 12 and 13 DH; which is impossible. But internationally, these same masks can be sold for 1.50 euros; which would allow us to reasonably run our platforms".

He laments the fact that the current regulatory provisions constitute a handicap for him and other textile manufacturers. "I have a potential demand for three million masks from a European client, an order that I am unable to fulfill given the current regulatory provisions," he deplores.