Morocco to Increase US Wheat Imports

Morocco will receive its first shipment of 100,000 tonnes of hard wheat from Louisiana this month, the head of the Moroccan Federation of Millers (FNM) Abdelkader Alaoui said, Reuters reported.

Morocco will increase its imports of hard wheat from the United States “purely for economic and financial reasons,” Abdelkader Alaoui said.
He cited the $50 price difference between American wheat and grain from other countries, the lower exchange rate of the dollar against the local currency and the duty-free regime for grain imports.

“We have avoided the American market for a long time because of high prices,” Alaoui said. “Now they have fallen significantly. American hard wheat is rich in protein and has low moisture content, so it is ideal for mixing with soft wheat that we buy from other countries,” he added.

FNM estimates that US hard wheat will account for 5-6% of Morocco’s grain imports this season, or 500,000-600,000 tonnes.

Tags: wheat, USA, Morocco