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Rabat – Morocco, a usual leader in the global fresh fruit trade, experienced a noteworthy shift in its import dynamics in 2023, propelled by a confluence of factors chiefly influenced by inclement weather patterns.
According to data compiled by EastFruit, the Kingdom’s fresh fruit imports soared to an unprecedented level, hitting 123,000 tons, reflecting a necessity to address escalating domestic demand exacerbated by adverse climatic conditions.
A significant transformation unfolded in the fruit import landscape, with bananas emerging as the frontrunner, constituting the most imported fruit with a total volume of 28,000 tonnes.
Despite Morocco’s robust annual production of approximately 350,000 tons of bananas, reliance on imports from South America and the Spanish and Portuguese Atlantic islands has become pivotal, with these regions serving as primary suppliers, covering up to 50% of Morocco’s import requirements.
The meteoric rise of bananas came at the expense of pears, which experienced a staggering 42% decline in import volume, plummeting to 28,000 tons in 2023.
Yevhen Kuzin, a fruit and vegetable market analyst at EastFruit, emphasized Morocco’s strategic shift in banana sourcing, compensating for Latin American shortages by turning to Spain and Portugal.
Kuzin also highlighted the broader challenges facing the global banana industry, including weather risks, rising costs, and disease threats such as TR4.
According to EastFruit, the downturn in pear imports can be attributed predominantly to adverse weather conditions in Spain and Portugal, the traditional bastions of pear supply to Morocco.
Avocado imports witnessed a remarkable upsurge, escalating by 74% to reach 13.6 thousand tons in 2023.
This surge is intrinsically linked to Morocco’s burgeoning avocado exports, catapulting the nation to the ninth position among global exporters in 2022, with Peru being the primary supplier of imported avocados.
Furthermore, pineapple imports breached the 10,000-ton milestone for the first time, with a record 11.5 thousand tons imported in 2023, predominantly sourced from Costa Rica, Ivory Coast, and Ghana.
While kiwis and apples experienced a downturn in imports, persimmons, watermelons, and plums witnessed an unprecedented surge. Morocco imported 6.7 thousand tons of persimmons, 770 tons of plums primarily from Spain, and 2.2 thousand tons of watermelons primarily from Mauritania in 2023.
Despite challenges posed by adverse weather conditions, Morocco’s diversified import strategy has facilitated the effective mitigation of domestic demand fluctuations, ensuring a steady supply of fresh fruits to its populace.
