Morocco's state grain agency ONICL has approved the import of 1.2 million tonnes of soft milling wheat over the period September 16-December 31, it said on Tuesday. Licenses to import the wheat have been issued to 20 grain trading houses including Gromic, Izda, Millex and Casagrains, ONICL said in a statement.
A leading grain trader said that after the 1.2 million tonnes have been procured, there would be no more imports of soft wheat before the end of the year. "This 1.2 million tonnes is enough to cover the needs of the domestic market in soft wheat," the trader said.
Morocco, the world's tenth-biggest wheat importer, saw its harvest this year slashed by bad weather to 7.46 million tonnes from a record 10.2 million tonnes last year. The government said last month it will cancel customs duty on imports of soft wheat from September 16 to December 31, a step it takes regularly when it wants to encourage grain imports.
Morocco's grain agency does not itself issue international tenders to import cereals, but instead awards licenses to local grain traders to import the wheat. The grain trader said that instead of its usual practice of tendering for the best offer from local traders, on this occasion ONICL awarded the import licenses on a first-come-first-served basis.
Two other industry sources said this was designed to speed up the process and appease local traders, who had said the government was slow to scrap import tariffs and failed to give a clear picture of its import plans. Economic and General Affairs Minister Nizar Baraka told Reuters last week Morocco will launch tenders to import 1.2 million tonnes of soft wheat before the end of December this year as part of plans to import 2 million tonnes of soft wheat by the next harvest.
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