Morocco should increase wheat inventories to cover up to 6 months- traders

Morocco should increase wheat inventories to cover up to 6 months- traders

Morocco should increase its strategic stockpile of wheat to cover up to 6 months from about 3 months currently, head of the Moroccan federation of wheat traders, Omar Yakoubi said.

Crises during 2008, 2018 and the most recent supply disruptions following the war in Ukraine, were triggers for Morocco to consider expanding its strategic reserves to ensure steady supply of the domestic market, he said at a conference at the international farming fair SIAM in Meknes.

Moroccan traders should not assume that wheat available elsewhere will be accessible easily to them, he said, urging the state and the private sector to build more silos to be able to build a strategic reserve that would spare the country steep price fluctuations.

Yakoubi also called for priority to be given to collecting the domestic harvest, which has been hit by at least seven years of consecutive drought.

This year, Morocco expects its cereals harvest to increase 41% to 44 million quintals, including 24 million quintals of soft wheat, the main staple in the country.

The increase was thanks to a 19% increase in rainfall, which was still 18% below an average year.

Usually, Morocco drafts its budget on the basis of a crop year of 70 million quintals.

 

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