Morocco to Expand Soft Wheat Stockpiles beyond Five Months

Spring wheat is harvested on a farm near Beausejour, Manitoba, Canada, Aug. 20, 2020. (Reuters)
Spring wheat is harvested on a farm near Beausejour, Manitoba, Canada, Aug. 20, 2020. (Reuters)
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Morocco to Expand Soft Wheat Stockpiles beyond Five Months

Spring wheat is harvested on a farm near Beausejour, Manitoba, Canada, Aug. 20, 2020. (Reuters)
Spring wheat is harvested on a farm near Beausejour, Manitoba, Canada, Aug. 20, 2020. (Reuters)

The Moroccan government plans a gradual build-up of soft wheat stockpiles adding to the five months of domestic consumption needs currently secured by the private sector, the agriculture minister said on Monday.

The additional stocks will be run by state grains agency ONICLE, minister Mohammed Sadiki told members of the parliament, without offering further details.

Morocco also plans to increase durum stocks, he said.

The local cereals harvest, which hit a record 10.3 million tons last year, is severely compromised this season by the worst drought in decades.

So far this year, rainfall was 41% lower than average, although a late rainfall in March gave farmers a small glimpse of hope.

Moroccan farmers have sown 3.5 million hectares with cereals, of which 44% was planted with soft wheat, 24% with durum and 32% with barley, Sadiki told members of parliament.

Due to drought, 53% of the harvest is expected to be lost and only 21% is in good condition, while 16% showed average condition and 10% is bad.

Traders expect Morocco's cereals harvest to be lower than 3 million tons.

The surge of wheat prices due to the war in Ukraine meant higher subsidies on soft wheat which reached 1.7 billion dirhams for the 1.8 million tons imported by Morocco since November, he said.

The kingdom has received 0.55 million tons of Ukrainian soft wheat from an order of 0.6 million tons covering November-February, Abdelkader Alaoui, head of the industrial millers federation told Reuters last month.

Ukrainian and Russian wheat represent 25% and 11% of Moroccan wheat imports, respectively, while France tops the list of suppliers.

Moroccan traders are looking at French, Brazilian, Argentinian, Polish, German and Lithuanian wheat, Alaoui said.



India Bans Imports from Pakistan amid Tensions

Vehicles wait in a line before making their way to Pakistan at the Attari-Wagah border crossing near Amritsar, India April 30, 2025. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File Photo
Vehicles wait in a line before making their way to Pakistan at the Attari-Wagah border crossing near Amritsar, India April 30, 2025. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File Photo
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India Bans Imports from Pakistan amid Tensions

Vehicles wait in a line before making their way to Pakistan at the Attari-Wagah border crossing near Amritsar, India April 30, 2025. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File Photo
Vehicles wait in a line before making their way to Pakistan at the Attari-Wagah border crossing near Amritsar, India April 30, 2025. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File Photo

India said Saturday it has banned the import of goods originating from or transiting via Pakistan as diplomatic tensions between the two nuclear-armed nations flared in the wake of a deadly attack on tourists in disputed Kashmir region.
India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade in a notification said the ban will take effect immediately.
"This restriction is imposed in the interest of national security and public policy," it said, according to Reuters.
Suspected militants killed at least 26 tourists in last week's attack on a mountain destination in the Pahalgam area of the Kashmir valley.
The Muslim-majority Himalayan region is claimed by both India and Pakistan, and has been the site of multiple wars, insurgency and diplomatic standoffs.
India has accused Pakistan of involvement in the attack, which Islamabad denies. Pakistan said it has "credible intelligence" that India intends to launch military action.
Pakistan also announced retaliatory measures that have included halting all border trade, closing its airspace to Indian carriers and expelling Indian diplomats. It has also warned that any attempt to prevent the flow of river water promised under a decades-old treaty between the two nations would be considered an act of war.
Trade between the two nations has dwindled over the last few years.