Moroccan Minister of Industry: We will Cover 8% of UK's Electricity Needs

 Moroccan Minister of Industry and Trade Ryad Mezzour (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Moroccan Minister of Industry and Trade Ryad Mezzour (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Moroccan Minister of Industry: We will Cover 8% of UK's Electricity Needs

 Moroccan Minister of Industry and Trade Ryad Mezzour (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Moroccan Minister of Industry and Trade Ryad Mezzour (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Moroccan Minister of Industry and Trade Ryad Mezzour said that his country was working to provide the United Kingdom with 8% of its total electrical needs, from low-cost renewable energy sources.

In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat on the sidelines of a visit to London, Mezzour emphasized the importance of the huge XLinks energy project, which links Morocco with Britain, with the participation of ACWA Power.

According to the minister, the project aims to provide about 8% of electricity in the UK from Moroccan production, and to secure nearly 7 million British homes with low-cost electricity by 2030, through four direct submarine cables stretching over a distance of more than 3,800 km.

- Energy Diversity -

Morocco has emerged as one of the most important producers of renewable energy around the world, and has adhered to the Paris climate agreement, which aims to contain global warming by 1.5 degrees.

“We don’t have a large stock of hydrocarbons, so we have looked for our competitive advantage in renewables. Today, we are among the top three countries in the world to produce renewable energies, along with Chile and the Australian West Coast,” Mezzour underlined.

“We are committed to an energy mix to generate electricity. We aim to produce 52 percent of our electricity from renewable sources by 2030.”

- Inflation -

On a different note, the minister said that his country succeeded in controlling inflation and ensuring food supplies, despite the global challenges that resulted from the Covid-19 pandemic and the Ukraine war.

In the past years, Morocco focused on the development on the local industry, which was reflected in the success of the Made in Morocco label to access international markets.

Mezzour noted that ''Made in Morocco'' was a three-pronged concept.

“A product made in Morocco is first of all a product with at least 40 percent of its added value made locally.”

As for the second axis, it revolves around quality.

“This means that the product complies with international quality standards,” he said, adding: “Third, Made in Morocco is a brand that includes different products, with a clear identity based on competitiveness and quality in all its aspects.”

- Food security -

Asked about threats to food security, in the wake of the Ukraine war, Mezzour said: “Morocco is a country that was built over twelve centuries on the basis of ensuring food security. Moroccans sometimes refer to their country as “the store”, in reference to Morocco’s ability to store and provide its population with food, in appropriate quantities and prices, even when supplies are declining.”

Today, although inflation has caused the prices of certain products and some foodstuffs such as oil to rise, manufacturers are deploying huge efforts to ensure permanent availability, according to Mezzour.

“The prices have witnessed a controlled development, thanks to a responsible relationship between manufacturers, residents and customers,” he added.

On the other hand, the minister said that Morocco was witnessing very complex climatic conditions, with a significant decrease in rainfall this year, which prevented the country to achieve the usual levels of production.

“Despite these factors, we were able to provide products, control inflation, and subsidize the prices of basic foodstuffs such as bread and sugar,” he emphasized.

- The aviation industry -

Today, the Moroccan aviation industry is one of the “most dynamic in the world,” and one of the most competitive, according to Mezzour.

“Today, Morocco can manufacture 42 percent of aircraft with highly advanced technologies, which is unique in the world,” he noted.

In this context, at the Farnborough Air Show in London, Morocco signed a Memorandum of Understanding with “one of the largest airlines in the world, Collins, to develop an integrated system in which we jointly commit to developing a network of suppliers.”

“This will allow Collins to invest up to $1 billion annually in Morocco. It’s only a first step, as we are working with several of the Collins Group companies to develop similar systems,” Mezzour told Asharq Al-Awsat.

- Integrated industrial system -

Morocco and Saudi Arabia agreed to set a road map that paves the way for the creation of an integrated industrial system, aimed at enhancing investment opportunities and creating added value and job opportunities in the two countries.

Mezzour praised this agreement, which was announced during talks he held last April with the Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, Bandar Al-Khorayef.

“Rabat and Riyadh benefit from strong ties to promote integration between the two countries’ industrial platforms.... This cooperation will allow both platforms to improve their competitiveness, growth and access to other markets,” he stressed.

“Saudi Arabia, and other Gulf countries, possess important raw materials, whether in the field of energy or minerals such as aluminum and others, the development of which may constitute an opportunity, especially in the automotive and aviation industries. For its part, Saudi Arabia is developing a huge and interesting industrial platform, which can benefit from Moroccan suppliers.”



Tesla, Chips, and Banks Tumble as China’s Retaliation Stokes Fears of Widening Trade War

Tesla’s logo on a building of the Tesla Gigafactory in Gruenheide, near Berlin, Germany, 03 April 2025. (EPA)
Tesla’s logo on a building of the Tesla Gigafactory in Gruenheide, near Berlin, Germany, 03 April 2025. (EPA)
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Tesla, Chips, and Banks Tumble as China’s Retaliation Stokes Fears of Widening Trade War

Tesla’s logo on a building of the Tesla Gigafactory in Gruenheide, near Berlin, Germany, 03 April 2025. (EPA)
Tesla’s logo on a building of the Tesla Gigafactory in Gruenheide, near Berlin, Germany, 03 April 2025. (EPA)

US chip companies, banks and oil majors fell sharply on Friday after China retaliated to Trump's tariffs with steep duties, in an intensifying trade war between the world's two largest economies that cast a shadow on global growth.

China slapped additional duties of 34% on US goods, set to go into effect April 10. It also announced curbs on exports of some rare-earths and added several US firms to its export control list and the "unreliable entities" list, which allows Beijing to take punitive action.

The action followed US President Donald Trump's 34% duties on imports from China announced on Wednesday, which triggered a massive market meltdown on Thursday. The latest levies were on top of the 20% tariffs on China imposed earlier this year.

Investors were already fretting over potential supply chain disruptions, price hikes and demand destruction for everything from cars and smartphones to sneakers.

Shares of Tesla and Apple - among consumer tech companies with a large exposure to China - were down 8% and 4%, respectively. While both companies have local production in China, duties on US-imported parts could squeeze margins and force price hikes.

"Several tech companies have established local supply chains in China. Most source components from China already, and hence, disruptions should be controllable, though we do expect price hikes on parts and components not being sourced from China," said Nishant Udupa, practice director at research firm Everest Group.

For Tesla, already in a bruising price war with local Chinese rivals, raising prices would pressure demand further.

"Apple's smartphone sales had already been declining in China for some time, faced with growing, cheaper competition. So, the prospect of steep import duties being imposed is likely to sharply erode sales even further," said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.

Shares of Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon.com were subdued as they had limited exposure to China.

GE Healthcare's stock slid nearly 13%, following China's export controls on a rare-earth metal that is used in MRI scans. The country's announcement of an anti-dumping investigation into imports of certain medical CT tubes from the US and India added to the worries.

SEMICONDUCTORS

Chip companies are set to face headwinds, too, although US exports a much smaller amount of electronic equipment to China. Shares of Intel, Applied Materials and Qualcomm, all of which count on China for at least 30% of revenue, were down 5% to 8%.

The US exported more than $15 billion worth of electrical and electronic equipment to China in 2024, with most of the value coming from integrated circuits, transistors and other semiconductor devices, according to economic data provider Trading Economics. In comparison, the U.S. imported more than $127 billion in electronic equipment from China last year.

"Semiconductors will feel a greater impact ... We're already witnessing a domestic ecosystem evolve in China, with direct alternatives for every major US semiconductor firm. This trend is likely to accelerate," Udupa said.

NATURAL RESOURCES

Crude prices, already under pressure from an expected OPEC+ oil output hike in May, added to the losses.

Oil majors Exxon and Chevron fell more than 5%. Top oilfield service company SLB dropped 10%, and the biggest US refiner by volume, Marathon Petroleum, fell 6%. Chemicals company DuPont slid 12%.

"The trade war escalated, recession fears rise and consequently oil demand growth is to take a sizeable hit," said Tamas Varga, analyst at PVM.

China is also the largest market for US agricultural products, even as imports of US farm goods dropped last year.

Shares of top grain traders like Archer-Daniels-Midland fell 8% while Bunge was down 6%. Fertilizer firms Mosaic and CF Industries fell 10% and 8%, respectively.

China's tariffs on US soybean exports would increase the cost to local customers, especially animal feed producers, and could prompt the country to source more from Brazil and Argentina, said Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein.

BANKS

Banks' shares extended their declines from Thursday. The industry has been clouded by fears that a trade dispute could temper consumer confidence, reduce spending, weaken loan demand and pressure fees from advising on deals.

JPMorgan Chase, the biggest US bank by assets, sank 7%. Wall Street titans Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley dropped more than 7% each.

MACHINERY

Heavy machinery makers Caterpillar and Deere fell 5% and 4%, respectively, on concerns over demand from one of their largest overseas markets.

China is a major buyer of construction and agricultural equipment and a key player in global infrastructure spending.

RETAIL

Shares of major luxury and footwear firms reversed coursed after Trump said Vietnam's leader To Lam has offered to reduce tariffs on US imports. Ralph Lauren's shares were up 2.5%, while Tapestry rose as much as 3.6%.

Nike gained 4%, Roger Federer-backed On jumped 7.2% and Lululemon Athletica rose 3%. The stocks had initially fallen after retaliatory tariffs by China, a major revenue contributor.