Morocco has been again increasing the imports of nuts, as shown by the import statistics in January-April 2023, reports EastFruit. Imports had been growing rapidly over the past years but fell in 2022.
Nevertheless, in the first four months of the current year, the situation changed to the opposite. Since 2016, imports were annually growing by 45-50%, and in 2020 the growth rate stood at 90%. In 2021, the nut imports reached their record high more than 50,000 tonnes.
Morocco ranks 22nd in the global ranking of the biggest importers of nuts. The import structure includes cashew nuts, hazelnuts, pistachios and several other categories, with shelled almonds and in-shell walnuts as the most important ones. Almonds account for 74% in the total imports of nuts in Morocco (in the value terms), and the share of walnuts is at 13%.
In 2022, imports also grew in the walnut segment, with the main reason of a decline in imports from China (one of the main suppliers). As a result, imports of in-shell walnuts went down by 10%.
Nevertheless, with lower stocks of last year’s crop, Moroccan importers increased their purchase volumes and imported more than 20,000 tonnes of nuts in January-April 2023. As these months are important for imports of several nut categories, the total nut imports are expected to increase again in 2023.
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