Diesel and gasoline: Imports growing

Morocco is increasing its imports of diesel and gasoline in 2024. In the first quarter of this year, purchases rose by 9.1% in volume terms, reaching almost 1.47 million tons. This corresponds to a bill of 12.89 billion dirhams (USD 1.28 billion), an increase of 0.9% in value compared with the same period last year. Per fuel type, diesel accounted for almost 91% of the volume and value of these imports.  
These are the findings of the Competition Council’s recently published reports on the implementation of the commitments entered into by nine companies operating in this market, as part of the settlement agreements concluded in 2023 with the Council. This is a quarterly report tracking the supply, storage, and distribution of diesel and gasoline. Imports by the distribution companies concerned by this reporting represent a share of around 87% in volume and value of total purchases on the global market, during Q1 2024. Imports by these companies rose by almost 5% in volume terms compared with the same period in 2023, from 1.21 to almost 1.27 million tons (a difference of 63,000 tons). Imports by value, meanwhile, reached 11.21 billion Dirhams (USD 1.12 billion) in Q1 2024, compared with 11.53 billion Dirhams (USD 1.15 billion) in Q1 2023, i.e. a difference of around 327 million Dirhams (USD 32.7 million), and a drop of 3%.  

In volume terms, diesel and gasoline imports showed two opposing trends. Diesel purchases rose by 6% in Q1 2024 compared with the same period in 2023, while gasoline imports fell by 4.6%.
Sales by reporting companies of diesel and gasoline (excluding marine fuel) reached a volume of around 1.7 billion liters (449 million US gallons) for the first quarter of 2024, up 4.6% on the same period a year earlier. In terms of value, sales stood at MAD 18.98 billion (USD 1.89 billion), up almost 1% over the same period last year (MAD 18.87 billion / USD 1.89 billion in Q1 2023).

At the end of March 2024, total available storage capacity in Morocco stood at almost 1.50 million tons, an increase of around 16% compared with the level recorded at the end of 2023. The nine companies covered by this report have a combined capacity of 1.2 million tons. This represents 80% of Morocco’s total capacity. On the distribution side, no new operators entered the market in the 1st quarter of 2024.

Khadija SKALLI