Morocco has imposed 170 percent tariffs for durum wheat imports for the June-July period, state grains agency ONICL said on Saturday, to shield local farmers from foreign competition. "The customs duty for hard wheat is at 170 percent during the June-July period," ONICL, which oversees the country's wheat imports through licences, said.
Morocco expects a record cereals harvest of 10.2 million tonnes this year, compared with an average of 6 million in the past decade, because of good weather, government officials said. The North African country's cereals harvest swings sharply due to cyclical drought. Cereals crops have varied from around 2 million tonnes to 9.6 million tonnes in the past 50 years, according to official figures.
Morocco sees the harvest of soft wheat this year rising 77 percent to 4.5 million tonnes and durum wheat at 2.0 million tonnes, 61 percent higher than in the previous crop. Its barley output is expected to jump 174 percent this year to 3.7 million tonnes compared with the previous season, government officials said.
On Friday, the government announced that it had imposed 135 percent tariffs for soft wheat imports for the June 1-December 31 period. Morocco had suspended tariffs in 2008 and until May 31 this year to trim prices of wheat in the domestic market after prices of imported wheat soared in 2007 and early 2008.