Fresh bread in a Beirut bakery on July 1, 2020. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — The head of Bakery Owners’ Syndicate, Ali Ibrahim, held a press conference Monday where he issued a “last cry” about the situation of the bread industry in Lebanon and the difficulties faced by the owners of the bakeries, according to the state-run National News Agency.
Here’s what we know:
• Caretaker Minister of Economy and Trade Amin Salam, had accused the bakeries of creating an “artificial crisis.”
• The Secretary of the Syndicate of Bakery Owners in Mount Lebanon, Nasser Srour, addressed him by stating that the bakeries are not responsible for the bread crisis, but rather the Ministry of Economy and Trade since the permissions for the bakeries to deliver their quota of flour are issued by the Ministry to the mills.
• Bakeries are not receiving flour from mills in some areas, and some of them have suspended their work.
• The mills are waiting for the Banque du Liban (BDL) to pay necessary credits to cover the costs of importing wheat shipments, the statement added.
• "The accusation of bakeries of creating a crisis is rejected, because the bakeries are the ones who raise their voice to secure flour amid the reality witnessed by the mills sector,” Srour stated.
• The syndicate had issued similar warnings a number of times since the onset of Lebanon’s financial crisis in 2019, but while decreased supply and panic buying have led to long lines for bread on occasions, a protracted supply crisis has yet to materialize.
• Fears of compounding disruptions to wheat and bread supplies have risen since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, since Lebanon imports the bulk of its wheat from the Black Sea region.
• Ibrahim concluded that the syndicate is “against subsidies, and it is shameful to say that the country has flour for thirty days. A loaf of bread is not like any other commodity. Provide flour so that the bakeries can function.”
• Last week, the Syndicate of Bakery Owners in Beirut and Mount Lebanon called for the removal of subsidies on “extra” and “super extra” flour and criticized the state for “not searching for alternate markets to buy wheat, while the Russian invasion of Ukraine since the end of February has severely impacted wheat imports to Lebanon.
• On Thursday, workers from the Union of Bakeries blocked a road in Tripoli to protest flour shortages.