Cap Holding's Strategic Move in Morocco's Flour Market
In Morocco, the consumption of wheat and its derivatives ranks as the third highest in Africa, following Egypt and Algeria. As the market continues to evolve, operators engaged in trading and processing are actively seeking investment opportunities to capture a larger share of this dynamic sector. Recently, the Moroccan Competition Council granted approval for the industrial group Cap Holding to acquire a 68% stake in Forafric Maroc SA, a prominent player in the agro-food industry specializing in wheat flour, couscous, semolina, and pasta production.
This decision, reported on April 20 by the local newspaper Médias 24, enables Cap Holding to finalize a transaction initiated after negotiations commenced in early March for controlling a leading miller in Morocco. Established in 1926, Forafric has been producing and marketing a wide range of wheat-based products under its flagship brands, "MayMouna" and "Tria." According to its latest annual report published in 2025, the company operates nine mills across the country with an annual grinding capacity of 1.1 million tons.
Forafric also runs a secondary processing unit within Morocco, boasting a production capacity of nearly 53,000 tons of pasta and couscous, along with two logistical platforms and grain storage facilities estimated to hold around 300,000 tons. Local media sources indicate that Forafric Maroc's decision to sell a majority stake to Cap Holding is part of a broader strategy to address financial challenges faced by its parent company, Forafric Group, which is grappling with significant debt estimated at $179 million as of June 2025.
Enhancing Market Presence and Future Prospects
While details regarding the total cost of the acquisition by Cap Holding remain undisclosed, this transaction is expected to bolster the industrial group's position, particularly as milling has historically been its core business. Cap Holding is actively involved across the entire value chain of the milling sector in Morocco, encompassing trading, storage, transformation of grains into flour, and logistics, managed through several subsidiaries including Gromic, Ceralog, SNMM, Moony, and LMB. The group currently claims an annual grinding capacity of nearly 600,000 tons of grains across all its milling subsidiaries.
The acquisition of Forafric presents Cap Holding with the opportunity to capture a larger market share in Morocco, where annual wheat consumption hovers around 10 million tons, alongside potential growth in the export segment. In its latest report on the Moroccan cereal market, the U.S. Department of Agriculture anticipates that exports of these products from Morocco will reach 137,845 tons by the end of the 2025/2026 marketing campaign. If confirmed, this projection would signify a remarkable 48% increase in Moroccan shipments compared to the three previous marketing campaigns, starting from a stock of 93,042 tons recorded in 2022/2023.
As reported by agenceecofin.com.
