Morocco is being forced to restrict its tomato exports due to high internal prices. Cherry tomatoes are not affected by the restrictions.

The head of Morocco’s main fruit and vegetable exporters’ group said the kingdom has restricted tomato exports since late February, with a total ban imposed during the week to bring down internal prices. In a statement to Reuters on Friday, Lahoucine Aderdour, head of the Federation of Moroccan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters (FIFEL), said the Ministry of Agriculture had agreed on a daily export quota last month before halting all exports from 18 to 22 March, with a lower quota of 700 tonnes per day from Thursday.

He added that on Friday exporters received a quota of 1,000 tonnes, less than the usual 1,500 tonnes. The official was also keen to point out that more expensive products, such as cherry tomatoes, which represent more than half of Morocco’s tomato exports, are not affected by the restrictions.

This year, the vegetable harvest has been severely disrupted by bad weather in Morocco and Spain. This has resulted in shortages in Europe and higher prices, which helped push up inflation in the UK to 10.4% in February.

Traders are already expressing fears about the impact of export cuts on their share of key EU and UK markets. “We are not honoring our long-term supply contracts,” one trader told the news agency, noting that the bulk of contracts with British customers is signed a year in advance at fixed prices. “Morocco’s credibility as a stable supplier of tomatoes to the EU and UK markets is at stake,” he added.

Read Also: UK market faces tomato shortage after exports from Morocco and Spain drop

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The shortage of Moroccan tomatoes in the UK has greatly affected market stalls in the country. On social networks, several British citizens have shared photos of empty shelves in supermarkets.

The UK vegetable market is apparently experiencing a shortage of tomatoes. Morocco and Spain, considered the main suppliers of tomatoes to the UK, are cited by British professionals as the cause of these shortages, which they attribute to a lack of domestic production in recent times or other conditions.

Specialising in agriculture, the website ‘Fruitnet’ reports that there are major problems with the supply of Moroccan tomatoes in the UK, according to importers who fear a domestic shortage, but also according to citizens, who have widely shared on social networks, photos of empty shelves in many supermarkets across the site, the site said.

The availability of our tomato range has been significantly affected by adverse weather conditions in Spain and Morocco. The current shortage is expected to improve within a few weeks,” reads a photo shared on social media of a shelf in a UK supermarket.

The reasons for the drop in tomato supplies from Morocco, according to the website, are weather-related.

“In the North African country, farmers and suppliers have had to deal with cold temperatures, heavy rain, flooding and cancelled ferries for three to four weeks, which have severely affected the volume of vegetable imports reaching the UK,” noting that “bad weather in Spain and Morocco, where most tomatoes come from, is affecting supplies.

Other sources have attributed the current shortage of tomatoes in the UK to high energy costs, saying that ‘tomato growers are finding it difficult to heat their greenhouses because of the cost’.

British Tomato Growers Association spokeswoman Julie Woolley told The Grocer: “Wholesale petrol prices are affecting all growers, and tomato availability is a global issue.

The National Farmers’ Union confirmed that these problems are currently affecting all UK fruit and vegetable growers, not just tomato growers.

It is worth noting that trade relations between Morocco and the UK have improved significantly following the Brexit. The volume of bilateral trade last year amounted to 22.9 billion dirhams.

Read Also: Brexit boosts Moroccan-UK trade by nearly 50%

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On Thursday, the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) made a decision to impose duties on imports of Moroccan phosphates in the range of 19.97%, after pleadings made by Morocco to avoid this matter.

The imposition of these fees is due to a complaint filed by the American company “Mosaic” last year, in which it demanded American authorities to apply a fee of 70%, but to no avail.

In spite of reducing the fee rate, the decision remains incomprehensible to Morocco, as the OCP group presented all arguments regarding the lack of any basis for imposing these fees.

Details related to the decision of the USITC against imports of phosphate fertilizers are scheduled to be published in the next few weeks, which will allow determining reasons behind this decision and the basis on which it was taken.

For its part, the OCP Group confirmed that it will continue serving American customers as soon as it figures the best way to do so.

The “Mosaic” company has received criticism from a number of actors in the agricultural sector in the United States, including distributors and cooperatives, in addition to members of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

A few days ago, members of Congress sent a letter to Jason E. Kearns, Chair of the USITC, demanding the rejection of the request to impose duties on imports of Moroccan phosphate due to its impact on farmers.

The letter stated that American farmers rely heavily on phosphate fertilizers to produce a number of crops, including soybeans, corn, sugar, fruits and vegetables, warning that imposing duties on phosphate imports would result in an increase in prices, and thus increase the cost of production for farmers and result in negative effects on the agricultural sector.

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Morocco topped the list of Arab countries exporting to Brazil last January, as the Kingdom’s exports to the South American country amounted to more than 100 million dollars, according to the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC).

Moroccan exports to the largest economy in South America registered a 95.5% increase compared to the same month of 2020.

During January of this year, the value of the Kingdom’s exports witnessed a significant increase, amounting to 118.3% (137.9% for inorganic chemical products, and more than 44.2% for fish and crustaceans).

The value of Moroccan exports to Brazil during the past year amounted to 1.2 billion dollars, making Brazil the third customer of the Kingdom, preceded by France and Spain.

On the other hand, trade exchange between Brazil and Arab countries increased by 17.3% in January 2021 compared to the same month of the previous year, reaching 1.22 billion dollars. The trade balance recorded a surplus in favor of Brazil, amounting to 563.31 million dollars.

Arab countries maintained their third position in the list of major destinations for Brazilian exports with 891.85 million dollars, after China and the United States.

Despite the good performance of the Brazilian foreign trade sector in January, the trade surplus decreased by 9.2% compared to the same month of 2020, due to the increasing value of Arab countries’ exports to Brazil, which rose to 328.55 million dollars, an increase of 56.4% compared to January of last year.

The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce stated that cereals (wheat and barley) topped the list of the most important products exported to Arab countries, reaching a value of 26.78 million dollars.

Egypt topped the list of Arab countries importing Brazilian products, as the value of its imports increased by 77.6 % to reach 209.35 million dollars; in January, Egypt’s imports of Brazilian corn rose by 277.6% , while sugar imports increased by 543% (34.87 million dollars).

The ABCC expects an increase in trade exchanges, and a diversification of products in light of the accelerating pace of the anti Covid-19 vaccination process.

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