Morocco will continue to subsidize imports of milling wheat until April 2025.

Morocco’s National Office of Cereals and Legumes (ONICL) said that subsidies on flour wheat imports will remain in place until the end of April 2025. This was reported by Reuters. Morocco has been forced to import wheat as its own crop has been affected by drought.

Morocco has been importing wheat in large volumes for the past two years after a string of poor harvests, making the country a major market for the European Union and an important market for Russia.

The decision to extend the subsidy, which was in effect until December, was made by Morocco’s finance and agriculture ministries. ONICL will outline more details later, the agency said in a statement on its website.

In the past, Morocco has closed its market to imports in crop years for several months to protect its own farmers. But the import window has been open throughout 2024.

Extending the subsidy will keep a steady flow of raw materials for flour millers until the next harvest begins.

France has been Morocco’s leading wheat supplier for many years, and the loss of Algerian market share to Russia has made the Moroccan market even more important to French traders.

However, a poor harvest in France and Morocco’s moves to encourage competition from cheaper Black Sea wheat have helped Lossia expand its presence in the Moroccan market this year.

Morocco’s National Federation of Grain and Legume Traders (FNCL) said in October that Russia could become Morocco’s largest supplier of milling wheat in the 2024/2025 season, overtaking France.

Tags: subsidies, wheat, Morocco