Morocco plans to suspend customs duty on soft wheat on August 1, traders say
Morocco plans to suspend its 135% soft wheat import duty from August 1 to rebuild grain stocks after a strong harvest. Improved rainfall is expected to double cereal production to 9 million tonnes, while wheat imports in 2026/27 are forecast lower.
RABAT: Morocco plans to suspend its customs duty on soft wheat on August 1 to allow for the resumption of imports as it seeks to bolster stockpiles, the heads of the country’s national millers federation (FNM) and grain traders federation (FNCL) said.
Authorities introduced a customs duty at 135 percent from June 1 to July 31 to deter imports and prioritize marketing of the local harvest, FNM head Moulay Abdelkader Alaoui and the FNCL’s Omar Yacoubi told Reuters by phone.
After abundant rainfall brought an end to a seven-year drought, Morocco expects its cereals harvest, including soft wheat, to double to 9 million metric tons this season.
The agriculture ministry had told traders that halting the customs duty would require collection of at least 80 percent of its targeted 1.5 million tons of soft wheat by July 15, Yacoubi said.
Grains agency ONICL is offering traders premiums for both short-term handling and longer-term storage of domestic wheat, aimed at building stockpiles through to January 2027.
Traditionally, the collection of the local harvest for industrial millers has been difficult because local farmers keep the harvest for their own use.
The US Department of Agriculture forecast that Moroccan wheat imports, including durum, will fall to 4 million tons in the coming 2026/27 season, 40 percent below their expected level this season.
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Source : Arab News
