Morocco will have to import more raw sugar this year as a drought and an unusually long cold spell have curbed crop cultivation, said Ahmed Ouayach, who heads the Moroccan Confederation of Agriculture.
A dry cold spell has prevailed throughout much of the first two months of this year, which damaged 78% of the 18,000 ha covered by sugarcane, he said. Sugar beet farmers, many of whom have been battling the country’s sole sugar producer Cosumar for better terms, have reduced sown areas to 30,000 ha, which is about half the usual area, Ouayach added.
