Morocco to import more wheat from Russia than France in 2024/25, grain traders chief

Russia is expected to be Morocco's top soft wheat supplier this 2024/25 season, surpassing France, the head of the Moroccan grain traders' association (FNCL) Omar Yacoubi said on Tuesday.

Morocco needs to import 5 million metric tons of soft wheat, after a meagre domestic harvest due to drought, he told Reuters.

France, which reported a decline in its soft wheat harvest, "lacks needed quantities to supply our market," Yacoubi said, on the sidelines of a conference held by French grain exporter Intercereales.

Since August, Black Sea origin wheat has been the most competitive in the market, he said.

In view of the expected drop in French wheat exports, "we are obliged to look to other exporting countries such as Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, the Baltic states, Poland and Germany," he said.

French soft wheat sales to Morocco are expected to drop to 1.5 million tons this season, from 2.8 million tons, Jean Francois Lapie of the French grain exporters union told the conference.

Low quantities available for export in France leave Russia as "the market maker", Yacoubi said.

Moroccan traders also expect to import from Argentina and Brazil, Yacoubi said.

From June to August, Morocco imported some 1.5 million tons, with France in top spot followed by Russia, Poland, Germany and Ukraine, the head of the Moroccan federation of industrial millers Abdelkader Alaoui said.

"Price stability up to September encouraged increased imports," he said. "We look to keep importing until March," he said, saying stockpiles of the basic staple covered a little more than 3 months.