December 12, 2012

Morocco's Jun-Nov grain imports up 63.1% on-year

From June-November 2012, Morocco imported 2.79 million tonnes of grain, up by 63.1% than in the same period last year.

The state-run grains authority ONICL said on its website.

Corn topped the list with imports amounting to 11.9 million quintals, up by 36.8% on-year and accounting for 42.6% of total grain imports.

Soft wheat followed with imports of 11.6 million quintals, ahead of durum wheat with 3.6 million quintals, and barley with 0.8 million quintals, down by 46.6% on-year at end-November. In particular, imports of soft wheat, the main staple food in Morocco, were mostly driven by the suspension of customs duties as of October 1, 2012 and amounted to 11.6 million quintals at end-November 2012.

Besides, domestic collection of soft wheat reached 17.4 million quintals in the first six months of the 2012-13 campaign, while 14.4 million quintals were carried over from the previous month. Morocco, North Africa's third-biggest wheat importer after Algeria and Egypt, said imports from Brazil were the highest accounting for 28% of total imports in June-November 2012, followed by imports from Ukraine (23%), Argentina (15%), France (14%) and Canada (13%).

ONICL also reported that the volume of grain held by traders at Moroccan grain terminals increased by 3% on-month to 25.2 million quintals by the end of November.