The wheat import bill reached nearly 10 billion dirhams at the end of May, once morest 8.6 a year ago. Attributable to the drought in Morocco, this increase can also be explained by soaring prices, accelerated by the blocking of some 20 million tonnes of cereals in Ukrainian ports. Pending a return to normal exports, the Executive is considering several avenues to ensure a good supply of the national market.
From the beginning of the year to the end of May, the value of Morocco’s purchases of barley, wheat and soybean oil amounted to approximately 15.8 billion dirhams (MMDH). The bill for these products has increased by more than 5 billion dirhams compared to that of last year, according to figures from the Foreign Exchange Office. One product in particular, wheat, occupies the largest share of national cereal imports with an envelope estimated at 9.8 billion dirhams over the last five months, once morest 8.6 billion dirhams a year ago (+14.8 %).
If it is difficult to have precise figures on the volume of wheat imports, the fact remains that Morocco is part of the shortlist of the largest buyers of this cereal in North Africa, behind Egypt and Algeria. In addition to the drought which marked the agricultural campaign, the aggravation of the dependence on cereal shipments might also be explained by the skyrocketing price of wheat on the world market, accelerated by the war between Russia and Ukraine.
It’s time to diversify sources of supply…
If the Kingdom does not import durum wheat from Ukraine, it obtains soft wheat from France, which, in turn, buys it in Ukraine. Today, France is trying to help Romania to transit the large quantities of cereals blocked in Ukraine but still comes up once morest the lack of a “framework” allowing them to leave through the Black Sea because of the blockade. Russian. Even if France managed to circumvent this blockade, the specialists agree that the next harvests in Ukraine (because of the war) and Morocco (because of the drought) will not be at the level of the usual volumes.
Under these conditions, it is clear that the Kingdom finds itself in a delicate situation. Aware of its strong “bargaining power”, the country is turning to other markets, particularly in Latin America. Morocco is getting more and more supplies from Argentina and Brazil. In addition to diversifying its sources of supply, it has put in place other emergency solutions, including the suspension of customs duties on wheat imports from February to mid-May 2021, and from November 2021 to April 2022. This suspension will have cost the budget 550 million dirhams.
… and measures emergency
To these measures are added new refunds on imports. In the wake of the drop in commodity prices, including that of wheat, the Executive is continuing its policy of combating the rise in basic necessities by setting up the flat-rate refund on the import of common wheat. For products from Russia and Ukraine and those loaded at the Black Sea ports, the amount is 209.80 DH/q. For other sources, it is 232.54 DH/q.
This decision applies from July 1 to 31, 2022. As a reminder, a similar measure was taken last month with amounts of refunds which amounted, respectively, to 208.29 DH/q and 258.49 DH/q . All these measures are temporary until the diplomatic offensives to revive Ukrainian grain exports materialize.
Since the beginning of the war between Ukraine and Russia, some 20 million tons of grain have been blocked in the ports of the Odessa region by the presence of Russian warships and that of mines, laid by kyiv, to defend his shores. To put an end to this blockade which deprives many countries of a large quantity of cereals, world diplomacy is mobilised. At the request of the United Nations, Turkey, a NATO member and ally of the two conflicting parties, is stepping up diplomatic efforts to facilitate the resumption of deliveries.
Diplomatic offensives for a return normal
At the beginning of June, the president of Senegal and of the African Union, Macky Sall, met in Russia with his counterpart Vladimir Putin to ensure that wheat shipments can resume once more from the ports of Ukraine. During the same period, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also visited Ankara. All these diplomatic efforts have not yet borne fruit despite some signs of hope.
Military experts from Ukraine, Russia and Turkey met in Istanbul on Wednesday to discuss the possibilities of exporting grain from Ukrainian ports under Russian blockade. The greatest discretion surrounds the holding of these interviews behind closed doors between experts and in the presence of a United Nations delegation, which the Turkish Ministry of Defense intends to keep “confidential”, according to Western media.
The latter note that neither the place nor the time of the meeting have been made public by the ministry but the Russian delegation joined Istanbul at the end of the morning. Many, however, expect a happy outcome of this face to face between Russians and Ukrainians, “on neutral ground”, intervening in a context of global rise in food prices which poses the risk of famine, particularly in Africa.
At the end of these talks, the Russian and Turkish presidents are due to meet in Tehran next week, July 19, on the sidelines of a summit on Syria, which might provide the framework for announcing an agreement. . Turkish officials said they have 20 merchant ships currently waiting in the Black Sea and might be quickly loaded with Ukrainian grain. But the doubt remains.
Russia on Tuesday reiterated its demand to have the cargo of ships inspected to avoid arms smuggling and a pledge from kyiv not to stage provocations. However, on the ground, it has not led a major ground offensive since the eradication of the last pockets of resistance in the Lugansk region in early July. Analysts speak of an “operational pause” of Russian forces before the assault on the cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk in the east.
Khadim Mbaye / ECO Inspirations
–>
<!–
SOUTENEZ LesEco.ma DANS SA MISSION D’INFORMATION
En cette période difficile, LesEco.ma a besoin de votre soutien.
Votre fidélité et votre engagement sont décisifs pour la pérennité et le développement de notre site web .
SI VOUS SOUHAITEZ SOUTENIR NOTRE MISSION, FAITES UN DON GRATUITEMENT EN REGARDANT UNE PUBLICITE
Je soutiens LES ECO gratuitement
–>
