Mr. Moulay Hafid Elalamy, Minister of Industry, Trade, Investment and the Digital Economy, and Mr. Mohammed Boussaid, Minister of Economy and Finance presided, on Monday 2 May 2016, over the ceremony introducing the ecosystems for the mechanical and metallurgical industries sector, during which performance contracts relating to the ecosystems were signed with the profession.

These ecosystems relate to the recovery of the metals copper and aluminium, the new activities “agricultural machinery and bicycles”, and metal processing. The ecosystems launched are designed to face challenges to the sector, in particular the strong competition experienced by companies due to the world’s oversupply of steel, the development of downstream channels, the improvement of the culture of innovation and export, and a chronic trade deficit (30% of the industrial trade deficit).

Emphasising the strategic role of the mechanical and metallurgical industries in the chain of subcontracting, provisioning and equipping all industrial branches, Mr. Elalamy noted that the formation of these ecosystems imparted a new momentum to the development of the sector, which will be structured with greater efficiency with regards to the rest of the economic activities.

The Minister added that these ecosystems will allow to draw greater advantage from the numerous opportunities available to the sector such as the development of IMM application markets, growth of the export market demand for IMM products mastered by the national industry, and the potential for replacing products currently imported by enhancing local raw materials from recycling.

Eventually the implementation of these new ecosystems will help to create:

• 13,340 jobs
• 1.7 billion dirhams additional added value
• 11 billion dirhams additional turnover
• 2 billion dirhams of investment
• 2.3 billion dirhams gain in the balance of trade

To accompany the sector’s development, a tailored support will be provided through investment aid from the Industrial Development and Investment Fund (FDDI), easier access to land (57 hectares are reserved for the sector) and the introduction of training covering all the needs of the ecosystems.

In addition to the above, a regulatory system will be introduced to trace the origin and transactions involving metal waste, the control of export of metal waste, as well as the implementation of measures favouring local integration in large public projects.

The roll-out of the ecosystem “recovery of the metals copper and aluminium” will promote faster development of the channel through the structuring and professionalisation of the collection system, the development of a waste processing industry to manufacture semi-finished products to replace imports and the increased competitiveness of downstream industries. The ecosystem shall thus meet the challenges still facing the industry such as availability of competitive local raw materials, the cost of semi-finished copper and aluminium products as well as the preponderance of informal waste collection.

As for as the bicycle industry which has a sizable growth potential (the American and European market is estimated at nearly 40 million bicycles per year, with a trend to outsource production units), the goal is to encourage the development of the assembly industry for bicycles and other sporting products with high metal content and help Moroccan industrialists with the supply of input.

The development of the agricultural machinery industry seeks to position Morocco as hub supplying agricultural mechanisation in Africa (tractors) and supporting the development of Moroccan companies making associated equipment for agricultural machinery.

The industry can benefit from interesting opportunities such as the growth of african demand for agricultural machinery, a strong momentum to outsource production, synergy with the automotive industry, etc.

Concerning the “metal processing” sector, the newly created ecosystem aims to strengthen the manufacturing base and technical expertise of the sector’s SMEs, to assist companies in responding to the quality requirements of the different application markets and to ensure a better contribution of this sector to large public projects.

The Moroccan IMM industries: Key figures

• Jobs: 47,500
• Sales turnover: 43 billion dirhams, of which 45% is achieved by the upstream part of the sector (steel industry)
• Added value: 7.7 billion dirhams