In Morocco, the common wheat subsidy is used to limit the transmission of import costs to the prices of flour and bread. Following its recovery in October, a further increase is reported for November. This aid comes at a time when the agricultural year 2026-2027 has just begun and external purchases remain important.
According to the Moroccan press, the National Inter-Professional Office for Cereals and Pulses, ONICL, set the lump sum premium from November at 46.77 dirhams per quintal. It reached 44.48 dirhams in October, compared with 20.80 dirhams in September. These amounts concern imported common wheat, not aid paid directly to consumers.
The October movement represented an increase of about 114%. The increase from 44.48 to 46.77 dirhams is about 5.1 per cent. This calculation of the amounts reported measures the evolution of the unit premium. It does not describe an increase in the price of bread or in total budgetary expenditure.
A subsidy for common wheat calculated upstream
The mechanism is based on a reference price of 270 dirhams per quintal. The aid is intended to compensate for the difference between this benchmark and the cost of imported wheat. Its amount therefore varies with the conditions of external purchase, instead of constituting a fixed sum for the whole marketing year.
The ONICL circular of 18 August, described by professional organizations and the economic press, provides for the arrangements for cargo loaded between 16 September and 31 December 2026. It concerns in particular stocktaking bodies, cooperatives and industrial mills.
The support thus acts before making flour and bread. The 270 dirham threshold is a benchmark for wheat, not a retail price. Between imported grain and the product purchased by the household is processing, transportation and distribution.
For the consumer, the aim is to contain the effects of an external increase in prices. For public finances, an increase in the premium means more support per eligible quintal. The total burden will also depend on the volumes actually covered by the mechanism.
Bread still largely depends on external purchases
The compensation report attached to the finance bill for 2027 figures the imports of the main cereals to 105.69 million quintals in 2025-2026. They amounted to about 99 million in the previous marketing year. This total covers several cereals, not the only wheat for bread.
The same document places common wheat imports at 51 million quintals, almost 48% of the total. France provides 69%. This concentration gives the purchasing conditions on the French market an important weight in the supply of Moroccan mills.
The government presents the import refund as one of the price stabilization instruments. It also maintains a separate scheme for national common wheat flour, with an annual quota of 6.26 million quintals. The two aids therefore do not have the same object or scope.
New crop not yet available
The 2026-2027 crop year was launched on 7 November in Fquih Ben Salah province. The announced programme provides for over 4.9 million hectares of cereals, pulses and forage crops. This area is not just common wheat.
Seedlings are being launched and production is coming. It does not replace the volumes required for immediate supply. The needs of mills continue to depend on national availability, collection and external procurement.
The subsidy comes precisely during this interval: operators buy under international market conditions, while the state seeks to stabilize the cost of grain delivered for processing. The amount of the premium is to be monitored monthly, within the framework currently foreseen until 31 December.
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