Rusia tranquiliza a Marruecos respecto a la entrega de cereales
Russia's invasion of Ukraine is having an economic impact in many areas, such as energy and agriculture, for example. Many countries are facing difficulties in importing certain products that are closely linked to the Russian and Ukrainian markets. One such sector is cereals.
This case also affects Morocco, which imports a large part of the cereals it consumes from Russia and Ukraine and has been experiencing difficulties in the supply of this commodity for months. However, Russia is now sending a reassuring message that cereal supplies are set to improve.
In this regard, Artyom Tsingamzgvrishvili told the Russian news agency TASS that Morocco will receive deliveries of Russian cereals normally and on time. According to the Russian trade representative in the Alawi kingdom, "Russian grain suppliers are traditionally active in relation to the Moroccan country, while Morocco, in turn, is one of the world's leading importers of wheat".
In addition to the contingency of the war on Ukrainian territory, Morocco has also been suffering from a period of severe drought, which has affected its agricultural production. This has not gone unnoticed by Russia, and in this regard, Artyom Tsingamzgvrishvili indicated that Russia is aware of the urgency of timely grain deliveries to Morocco because the agricultural season has been seriously affected by the weather conditions, as reported by Bladi and Libre Entreprise.
Russia continues to attach great importance to Morocco in the African context since, as the Russian trade representative told TASS, "Morocco is the Russian Federation's third largest trading partner among the countries of the African continent after Egypt and Algeria". "Russia's grain deliveries to Morocco amounted to $75m in 2017, $103m in 2018, $102m in 2019, $94m in 2020 and $49m in 2021," Artyom Tsingamzgvrishvili explained.
The trade flow between the European and the North African nation is experiencing great growth as the volume of trade turnover between the two countries increased by 50 per cent in early 2022. According to the Russian diplomat, "Russia's exports to Morocco continue to show positive dynamics, with a 53% growth recorded for January-February, mainly due to an increase in the supply of Russian meat products, ammonia, coal, as well as the start of deliveries of Russian semi-finished products of iron or non-alloy steel". On the other hand, Morocco's trade volume also increased by 36%, mainly due to the growth of Moroccan citrus exports (by 52%)."
"Overall, the Russian-Moroccan trade turnover increased by almost 50 per cent in January-February compared to the same period last year," the Russian trade envoy added.
The Russian representative referred to the difficulties in the Moroccan agricultural season and how that can benefit trade between the two nations. "Taking into account the Kingdom's low harvest during the current season, I am confident that Russian grain will be in high demand," Artyom Tsingamzgvrishvili noted.
Morocco's strategy in this sector continues to be defined. A few weeks ago, it was also confirmed that Morocco had become the main importer of wheat from France.
In April, the Kingdom became the main importer of French wheat, making the North African nation the first partner outside the European Union to receive French grain, thus becoming one of the main drivers of French wheat exports.
In April, Morocco received 336,900 tonnes of common wheat from France. So far, Morocco has imported 1.2 million tonnes from France, thanks to the country's 2021/2022 cereal export campaign, which began in July.
After Morocco, the second largest importer of French wheat is Algeria. The North African country is said to have received 204,600 tonnes from France in April. In total, Algeria accumulates a total of 1.42 million French exports and, in addition, during the 2020-2021 period, the nation received 1.57 million tonnes of common wheat.
