The rise in prices of a number of products on the international market has led to a significant increase in Morocco’s import bill in the year 2022, due to the repercussions of the Russian military operation in Ukraine.
According to data from the Exchange Office, the value of Morocco’s purchases of barley, wheat and soybean oil, from the beginning of the year to the end of May, amounted to around 15.8 billion dirhams. If we compare with the same period last year, the bill for these products has increased by more than 5 billion dirhams, whereas it was around 10.7 billion dirhams.
In detail, the barley bill has seen the biggest increase, rising from 325 million dirhams in 2021 to 3 billion dirhams this year. This situation is attributed to the drought characterizing the current crop year.
Thus, and to remedy this situation of drought, the government resorted to importing a large quantity of barley from abroad, to protect the herd and support the breeders affected by the lack of rain.
Soybean oil also recorded a remarkable increase during this year. Its bill rose from 1.8 billion dirhams at the end of May 2021 to 3 billion dirhams at the end of May 2022, with a growth rate of 62.2%.
This soaring price of soybean oil is explained by the lack of supply at the global level, due to unfavorable climatic conditions in the main producing countries, in addition to the impact of the Russian war in Ukraine on the supply chain. ‘supply.
As for wheat, the value of imports in the first five months of 2022 amounted to around 9.8 billion dirhams, compared to 8.6 billion dirhams a year ago, with a growth of almost 14, 8%.
Faced with this situation, Morocco will have to ensure the import of additional quantities of these three products. Barley, for example, is needed to provide pasture for livestock, while wheat remains a vital material that cannot be abandoned.
Thus, Morocco will be subject to a fait accompli with regard to soybean oil since it depends 98% on foreign countries to import the materials used in the manufacture of edible oil.
In addition to the three materials which have experienced a significant increase, Morocco’s trade deficit will worsen by the end of the current year due to the increase in the energy bill due to the successive increase in fuel prices. .
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