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Rabat – Morocco is expected to set a new record for the import of dried fruits and nuts in 2023, according to the horticultural business platform EastFruit.
Morocco has already seen a record-breaking 66 thousand tons of this commodity come onto the market between January and October of 2023—12% more than the entire previous year.
According to the same source, Morocco depends solely on the import of nuts and dried fruits while being one of the world’s fastest-growing exporters of fresh fruits and vegetables. The North African country purchased around 26 times more of these goods in 2022 than it exported.
The product had its largest increase in imports between 2018 and 2021, exceeding threefold the volume. However, due to economic difficulties such as the global economic recession and the increase in transportation costs, Morocco’s imports of nuts and dried fruits decreased in 2022.
This was only a short-term setback, as the Moroccan market had rebounded by the middle of 2023. Although the total proportion of nuts and dried fruits imported into Morocco decreased from 91% in 2018 to 88% in 2022, almonds, walnuts, and dried grapes still remain the top three categories, the report detailed.
During the same period, the average volume of imports for walnuts and dried grapes doubled, while the amount of almonds purchased increased by nearly 10 times.
Imports of cashew nuts and prunes rose significantly. Purchases for prunes jumped by 19 times, while cashew imports increased by 12 times.
The Moroccan market still primarily receives its supply of walnuts and almonds from the US. American exporters lead the almond market and provide nearly all of Morocco’s imports but fall behind China and Chile in the walnut market.
Additionally, Morocco continues to import a growing number of less popular categories of nuts and dried fruits, including Brazil nuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, and dried apricots.
