Morocco maintains its rank as top EU wheat, barley importer in 2024/25

MOROCCO – Morocco has retained its position as one of the European Union’s top wheat and barley importers in the 2024/2025 season, despite a sharp decline in import volumes.

According to the latest report from the European Commission, the Kingdom imported 1,995,567 tonnes of soft wheat from the EU by the end of March, a significant drop of 44% compared to the 3,583,330 tonnes recorded in the same period last year.

Even with the decrease, Morocco ranked second among all EU soft wheat importers, surpassed only by Nigeria (2,249,915 tonnes) and ahead of Algeria (1,346,451 tonnes).

This underscores Morocco’s continued strategic importance in the European grain market, particularly in North Africa, where wheat remains a dietary and food security staple.

The decline in wheat imports is largely attributed to a combination of climate-induced production challenges and a shift in government import strategy.

Severe drought conditions slashed Morocco’s domestic wheat output by nearly half, prompting the need for imports to cover the gap.

However, instead of replicating the high import volumes of the previous season, Moroccan authorities opted for a more calculated procurement approach, supported by subsidy mechanisms to stabilize the domestic market amid global price fluctuations.

Meanwhile, Morocco’s performance in the barley market followed a similar trajectory. The country imported 582,323 tonnes of barley from the EU by the end of March 2025, a sharp decline from 921,104 tonnes in the previous season.

Despite the drop, Morocco remained the second-largest barley importer from the EU, behind Saudi Arabia, which surged to the top with 953,886 tonnes, reflecting a notable year-on-year increase.

The European Commission’s data also reveals broader trade patterns. From the start of the season to March’s end, the EU exported 15.68 million tonnes of soft wheat and 3.76 million tonnes of barley, while importing over 6.31 million tonnes of soft wheat and 931,214 tonnes of barley.

Ukraine remained the EU’s leading external wheat supplier, providing 4.09 million tonnes, followed by Canada (896,825 tonnes) and Moldova (475,821 tonnes).

The EU report comes after the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently reported that Morocco’s total wheat production for the 2025-26 marketing year is forecast at 2.8 million tonnes, falling below the 10-year average due to early-season drought and reduced planting area.

According to the USDA, while this marks a slight recovery from the 2.46 million tonnes harvested in 2024-25, the reports indicate that it remains significantly below the 4.15 million tonnes produced in 2023-24.

Barley has faced similar challenges. Although the 2025-26 output is expected to reach 700,000 tonnes, this represents only a modest increase from 660,000 tonnes in the previous year and remains significantly below the 1.35 million tonnes harvested in 2023-24.

To meet a national wheat demand of 10 million tonnes while maintaining strategic reserves, Morocco is forecast to import 7.3 million tonnes of wheat in 2025-26, a 42% increase over the 10-year average. Barley imports are also expected to rise to 900,000 tonnes.

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