Moscow confirmed on Monday the end of the grain export agreement reached last year between Ukraine and Russia under the mediation of Turkey and the UN. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged the UN and Turkey to maintain a Black Sea corridor to facilitate grain exports, which have enabled Ukraine to export 33 million tonnes of grain in a year. .
” Even without Russia, everything must be done so that we can use this corridor (for exports) in the Black Sea. We are not afraid“, Zelensky said, in comments shared by his spokesperson, Serguiï Nykyforov, on Facebook.
For the moment, the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSI) has come to an end, and Moscow has promised a ” answer after the attack on the Crimean bridge, which caused significant damage to the road section of the structure, which notably allows the transport of military equipment intended for the Russian army in Ukraine.
So, since Moscow’s announcement, a wave of concern about a grain supply crisis has once again reigned globally. The stock exchanges have already registered a ” slight increase “grain prices, suggesting a new wave of”inflation » prices of this essential raw material for many populations in developing countries, including Morocco, whose government had already minimized the impact of the Ukrainian crisis on its cereal supply chain.
In this regard, Jamal M’hamdi, President of the Interprofessional Federation of Cereal Activities (FIAC), assured that ” Morocco will not be affected by this Russian decision due to the diversification of its import channels, which do not depend only on Russia and Ukraine“.
In a statement to MoroccoLatestNewsM’hamdi pointed out that ” Since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, Morocco has not relied on these two markets as its main source of cereals, turning instead to many other diversified markets“. He affirms that ” Morocco has no shortage of grain stocks, which are sufficient for four months“.
This professional considers that the Russian suspension of grain exports could lead to higher prices in the future, but this cannot affect Morocco in the short and medium term“, also noting that ” the existence or absence of impact will manifest itself in five months or more, as the Russian decision is linked to many changes and may evolve in the future“.
For his part, Omar Yacoubi, president of the National Federation of Cereals and Legumes Traders (FNCL), indicates that “Russia’s decision will lead to higher world grain prices in the future”. He is pointing out that “for the moment, Morocco is completely sheltered from any repercussions of the Russian decision, because it has sufficient reserves for a long period”.
Among the solutions available to deal with a potential increase in cereal prices in Morocco, Yacoubi mentions “ the system set up by the National Interprofessional Office for Cereals and Legumes (ONICL), which compensates for the margins of increase in world prices“.
In conclusion, the president of the FNCL stresses that ” the quantity of cereals available, whether in national or world stocks, is sufficient and abundant, presenting no threat of shortage”.