São Paulo – Morocco’s market for poultry genetics and lobster from Brazil have been open for over three years since 2020, but Brazilians don’t export them to the North African state yet. According to the agricultural attaché of the Embassy of Brazil in Rabat, Ellen Laurindo, taxes on both are low if compared to other animal proteins imported by the Arab country.
The Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil) published last week a market study that analyzes the opportunity for Brazilian exporters to sell lobsters and poultry genetics to Morocco. The attaché spoke with an ANBA reporter on the survey.
“There’s potential to sell these products [to Morocco], as the taxes on animal products is 69% in average. For poultry genetics in particular the tax is 2.5%, while for frozen lobster it’s 10%. These are the products with the lowest tax rates [considering this range of product],” said Laurindo.
Just to get an idea, Morocco’s tax on beef imported from Brazil is 200%. According to the attaché, this happens for protectionism issues and because the Arab country has free trade agreements with other countries and blocs like the European Union, Turkey, the United States, the Arab League, and others.
“Beef from Brazil gets here because hotels buy it as a premium product. But Brazil and Mercosur have no agreement signed with Morocco,” she said. And even with agreements, beef from these countries is taxed by 40%.
As for poultry genetics, the Arab country can’t tax on this big of a scale because it hasn’t a relevant production on its own. “They buy a lot from France and Spain at zero tariff, and there’s the convenience of transport. But costs in Europe are very high, labor is expensive, and volume is limited,” said Laurindo.
Brazil already ships hatching eggs to Senegal and Mauritania, countries that are near Morocco. “Brazil is the largest exporter of hatching eggs to Senegal, and Europe doesn’t export them, so there’s a route already that could be further explored,” she said.
Although the market for hatching eggs has been open since 2020, Brazil doesn’t export them to the Arab country yet. “But there’s interest from some Brazilian companies,” she said.
The study by ApexBrasil deals with one-day-old chicks, but Ellen Laurindo said the most relevant products for Morocco in this field are hatching eggs, which are shipped to the country chilled and incubated.
Poultry genetics shipments from Brazil grew by 78.3% year to date through August compared to the same period last year. Revenues from exports jumped 47% year on year, said meat lobby ABPA.
The leading importer was Mexico at 10,429 tonnes year to date through August. Senegal also stood out at 2,262 tonnes.
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Lobster
Morocco is the world’s largest sardine producer and exporter, and its sea does have lobsters, but production is small – 2019 saw only 280 tonnes, part of which was exported, the ApexBrazil’s study said.
The crustacean isn’t part of the diet of Moroccans, who prefer beef and chicken to seafood, “In the case of the lobster, it would be to cater to Marrakesh’s hotel system,” said Laurindo.
As production is small, the domestic supply is minimum, and importing becomes necessary. Last year, the study said, Morocco bought USD 55 million worth of lobsters.
As a reference, Brazil exported USD 73.8 million worth of frozen lobster worldwide. The markets were as diverse as the US, China, Australia, Japan and Mexico.
In this case, the market of Morocco has been open since 2020, but Brazil hasn’t exported yet to the country. “They don’t import much, it’s an untapped niche market, to cater to hotels, and the pos-covid hotel industry is booming, tourism is strengthening,” Laurindo pointed out.
Morocco will be one of the 2030 World Cup hosts, and the country’s airline Royal Air Maroc is offering again non-stop flights to several destinations across the world and is expected to come back to Brazil in 2025, she said.
Another major event in the country will be the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to take place in Marrakesh from October 9 to 14. Morocco is one of the leading tourism destinations in Africa.
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ApexBrasil uses a market prioritization methodology to identify the countries that offer the best opportunities for some economic sectors. Check out the market study of ApexBrasil
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
