Morocco’s competition authority said on Monday that state subsidies for soft wheat imports are benefiting intermediaries far more than domestic producers and millers, raising concerns over market fairness and food security.
In a formal opinion on the milling sector, the Competition Council said importers alone received more than 9.3 billion dirhams, about $930 million, in compensation payments in 2022, accounting for the largest share of state support under the national subsidy system. Producers and milling companies received significantly less.
The report warned that the current subsidy system encourages market concentration and allows some firms to sell at artificially low prices that undermine competition and reinforce dominant positions.
Five industrial groups now control more than 53 percent of the durum wheat market, the council said, while excess production capacity is pressuring small and medium mills.
The authority also criticized weak coordination across the grain supply chain and Morocco’s continued reliance on imports.
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