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Rabat – With Ukraine and Russia — until recently the second and third largest wheat exporters to Morocco — locked in a raging, interminable war, the North African country appears to be shifting its focus to other markets, notably Brazil and Argentina, to secure much-needed wheat supplies.
Mohammed Sadiki, Minister of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development, and Water and Forests, stated last week that Morocco has decided to diversify its wheat supply sources to mitigate the effects of the ongoing fluctuation in the international market.
Speaking in response to a written inquiry from the House of Representatives, Sadiki argued that geopolitical tensions and the recent waves of drought have had virtually no impact on Morocco’s wheat supply. According to the minister, the only changes have been in the source markets for exports to Morocco.
Morocco received wheat from 25 nations in Europe, North America, Latin America, and Asia during the previous crop season. Amid the raging Ukraine-Russia war, the COVID pandemic, and tough climatic circumstances over the past year, Sadiki explained, Morocco’s decision to diversify its supply sources has helped the country to stay relatively “immune to fluctuations in the global market.”
During the first half of the current season, Morocco ordered food supplies from 15 different countries, with Brazil and Argentina accounting for 41% of Moroccan imports in February, the minister noted.
According to data from the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce reported by the Valley Post, Morocco’s wheat imports from Brazil surpassed 360,000 tons in the first four months of 2022.
Meanwhile, Sadiki noted, Moroccan imports of Ukrainian wheat previously reached 5.6 million quintals of soft wheat and 500,000 quintals of barley, above Morocco’s average proportion of Ukrainian imports, termed around 8.7 million quintals of soft wheat and 670,000 quintals of barley.
Regarding durum wheat, the minister emphasized that ​ prices in the main issuing nations, mainly France and Canada, remain extremely high.
He underlined, however, that the government is exploring various measures to alleviate the impact of durum wheat prices and derivatives on Moroccans’ purchasing power.
For Sadiki, the current figures show that Morocco has implemented a supplier diversification plan that has to date been largely effective in shielding the country against much of the prevailing disruptions and fluctuations in the global food market.
