Morocco’s reserves of wheat can sustain the country for six months, after being affected by this year’s diminished domestic output, Moulay Abdelkader El Alaoui, the President of the National Wheatmill Federation said.
Speaking to SNRT, Morocco’s National Company of Radio and Television, El Alaoui said the country’s reserves of wheat has reached 21 million pounds as of August.
He carried on to say that the price of a single pound of soft wheat has increased from MAD 380 ($36) to MAD 480 ($45), with hard wheat increasing from MAD 600 ($57) to MAD 700 ($66).
Grains, including wheat, are among the food products whose prices remain most affected by the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war, with the two countries covering much of global supply.
Countries in Africa and the Middle East were among the worst affected, being net importers of food. Morocco in particular experienced some of these effects, as reduced domestic output could not keep up with the difference.
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Global wheat prices decreased by 14.5% in July, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a decrease that was mostly attributed to a new agreement between Ukraine and Russia to facilitate exporting goods.
Earlier this month, several ships carrying shipments of grain left Ukrainian ports, with one of the ships headed towards Africa. The agreement was lauded as a “sigh of relief” for the world.
Moulay Abdelkader El Alaoui continued to detail Morocco’s wheat imports, saying that the kingdom gets its soft wheat from France, Poland, and Hungary, while hard wheat is mainly being imported from Canada.
Since the global food crisis was exacerbated by the war, Morocco’s government has allocated more funds towards subsidizing the cost of essential goods for its citizens, with food products and cooking gas being some of the most notable subsidies.
SOURCE: Morocco news
