Experts report that at the moment the Russian Federation is becoming the leader in terms of wheat supplies to this country.
Morocco is currently significantly changing the structure of its grain imports.
In the summer, the lion’s share of supplies came from France, but in September, Russia took first place. As for France, it disappeared from the list of suppliers altogether.
At the same time, the level of grain imports from other countries has also decreased. For example, the volume of supplies from Canada has decreased by 22%, and from Argentina — by 100%.
It is noteworthy that France, which is one of the main wheat exporters in the European Union, has faced a very severe crop failure this season, which has become the worst in 40 years.
Against this background, exports may fall to about 4 million tons, while the average for the past 5 years is at 10 million tons.
Experts note that the Kingdom of Morocco, located in North Africa, should be considered a country that is very promising as an importer of grain.
About 37 million people live on its territory, while its own production is very difficult due to the low quality of agricultural land and difficult climatic conditions. So grain production in the kingdom cannot yet meet its own demand.
As it became known in September from the Moroccan government report, the wheat harvest amounted to no more than 2.5 million tons, and the result is almost twice as bad as last year. The reason for this is said to be a severe drought.
Under such conditions, Morocco has no choice but to increase the volume of agricultural exports. It is planned that the kingdom will purchase up to 7.5 million tons of wheat this season.
It is noteworthy that this is 1.5 million tons more than in the previous season. Such a significant increase in the volume of imported grain opens up wide opportunities for exporters, including Russia.
«The current situation gives our country an opportunity to strengthen its position in the grain market of North African countries and opens up the opportunity for Russia to become a key supplier of grain in the region.
Despite the fact that in 2021-2022 there was a sharp decline in the volume of Russian grain exports to Morocco, over the past three years, the volume of supplies to this country has increased significantly and at the end of November 2024 amounted to more than 1.1 million tons,” notes Ruslan Khasanov, Director of the Federal Center for Assessment of Safety and Quality of Agricultural Products.
He points out that the main advantage of Russian wheat is its competitiveness in price and quality, which leads to the replacement of imports from other countries with Russian supplies.
