Morocco to resume soft-wheat import subsidies from September 16

Subsidy returns after June suspension

Morocco will resume subsidies for soft-wheat imports from September 16 through December 31, according to an official statement reviewed by Moroccan publication Hespress. The measure ends the suspension applied in June and reopens a state-supported import window covering the final months of 2026.

Abdelkader Alaoui, president of Morocco’s National Federation of Flour Mills, told Hespress that the renewed support will initially apply to vessels whose loading operations begin between September 16 and December 31. Eligibility is therefore tied to the start of loading, giving millers, traders and vessel operators a defined period in which to schedule qualifying cargoes.

Monthly rate linked to reference markets

The subsidy is currently estimated at between 15 and 16 Moroccan dirhams per quintal, Alaoui said. That figure is provisional rather than fixed. The authorities will update the calculation and determine the precise amount at the end of every month, allowing the support to move with international wheat prices.

According to Alaoui, Morocco’s National Interprofessional Office for Cereals uses the daily average of lower prices recorded in selected international benchmark markets. Argentina, France and Germany are among the reference origins used in the calculation. Their inclusion makes price developments in several competing supplier markets directly relevant to the cost of Morocco’s import-support mechanism.

The rate established for September cargoes will be paid to the vessels covered by that period. Specialized committees will meanwhile continue calculating daily averages during September, and the resulting rate will apply to shipments loaded in October. The same rolling method will continue through the end of December.

Buying demand and supplier competition

The decision gives Moroccan buyers greater visibility over import economics for more than three months, but it does not lock in a single subsidy for the entire period. Importers must compare physical wheat offers, freight and loading schedules while accounting for a support rate that can change monthly. Suppliers in Argentina, France and Germany also serve as reference markets even when individual purchases may depend on the commercial terms available for each cargo.

The measure may support renewed buying interest by reducing part of the cost associated with qualifying imports. Its design also limits the government’s exposure to a fixed payment when benchmark prices move: lower or higher international quotations can feed into the following month’s subsidy calculation. However, the source material does not specify an import-volume target, a fiscal budget or the quantities expected from individual origins.

Whether the programme continues after December 31 will depend on the direction of international wheat prices, Alaoui told Hespress. Moroccan authorities can therefore reassess support after observing benchmark-market movements during the subsidy window. For mills and traders, the immediate issue is securing eligible loading dates; for competing suppliers, monthly price performance will influence both commercial offers and the level of state support available to Moroccan buyers.