Morocco imported 27.9mn quintals (equivalent of 2.79mn tons) of grain in the period from June 2012, when the current import season started, to end-November, or by 63.1% more 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 11.9mn quintals, up by 36.8% y/y and accounting for 42.6% of total grain imports.
Soft wheat followed with imports of 11.6mn quintals, ahead of durum wheat with 3.6mn quintals, and barley with 0.8mn quintals, down by 46.6% y/y 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 11.6mn quintals at end-November 2012. Besides, domestic collection of soft wheat reached 17.4mn quintals in the first six months of the 2012/13 campaign, while 14.4mn 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% m/m to 25.2mn quintals by the end of November.
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