RABAT: Morocco will raise the custom duty on soft wheat imports to 65 percent from 30 percent from June 15 to August 15 to stabilize prices at 2,800-2,850 dirhams ($290.85-$296.04) per tonne, the government said in a statement on Thursday.
The move comes as a surprise after the agriculture minister told Reuters in April that Morocco would retain its 30 percent customs duty on imported soft wheat until the end of 2016 after a severe drought hit the local harvest this year.
Morocco is expected to harvest a cereal crop of 3.35 million tonnes this year, down 70 percent from last season's record 11 million tonnes.
This is the first time that Morocco has not closed the import campaign at the end of April, as millers and wheat importers asked the government to extend the import window and allow an earlier start to next season's imports.
Morocco's import campaign typically runs from October through April, after which tariffs are raised to prohibitive levels in order to protect the local harvest.
The price range of 2,800-2,850 dirhams would ensure adequate supplies to the domestic market and protect the local harvest, the government of the North African kingdom said. Wheat stocks stood at 1.7 million tonnes as of May 15, which covers at least 4 months' needs, it added.
The government statement said the finance minister proposed the decree to raise duties and it was adopted at the cabinet's weekly meeting. Morocco's harvest includes 1.86 million tonnes of soft wheat, 870,000 tonnes of durum and 620,000 tonnes of barley, official data said.
Rainfall was 43 percent less than an average year and 45.5 percent less than last season, which makes this the worst season in 30 years, with 98 dry days between November and February.
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