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Rajana Hamieh wrote an article in the Al-Akhbar newspaper titled “Flour Exchange is soaring: Will the Manakeesh ovens close?” He says:
About a week ago, bakery owners, especially small ones, have been repeatedly complaining about the high prices of “extra” and “zero” flour destined for making cakes and other items at around one million and 200 1,000 pounds per ton, after previously fluctuating between 700,000 and 800,000 pounds, depending on the quality of the flour. The complaints of those who now satisfy their daily needs per “kilo” coincided with a statement from the mill owners in which they declared that it is “at the request of the Minister of Economy and Trade, Raúl Nehme, that the prices of extra flour and scratch as before to ensure this material is delivered normally. ” . However, despite this “official” statement, the reality on the ground confirms what bakery owners are complaining about, specifically those who base their livelihoods on “manoucheh” and “cookie bags”. This means that the factory owners “lie,” according to the head of the Consumer Protection Association, Zuhair Berro, based on the complaints the association receives on a daily basis.
At a time when the Ministry of the Economy tended to limit government subsidies to flour used in the “dough” of white bread, mill owners began to escape restrictions, while controlling the prices of flour ” extra “and” zero “, which are used to make products that people also consume. The excuse of fluctuations in the exchange rate of the pound against the dollar does not justify this increase, which is close to 400 thousand pounds per ton, and sometimes can reach 600 thousand pounds, according to Tariq Al-Mir, head of the Association of Bakers and Bakers of North Lebanon.
This price is “unjustified”, says Bro, “especially when we take into account the profits they accumulate per tonne.” The association has no data on what the percentage is at present. However, before the economic-financial crisis, “mill owners earned between 100 and 120 thousand pounds, which at that time was equivalent to 80 dollars, at a time when the profit in the region was between 10 and 12 dollars “.
How will this price be reflected? First of all, signs of such an increase in the prices of “Manoushe” and a kilo of cake began to appear. Regarding the first, Mir points out that “the price of the extra manousha dough has become 1600 pounds and the zero flour is 1200 pounds.” This is before the other “details” of the completion of the “manqousha”, including thyme, oil and what is added to it from vegetables, etc. In other bakeries, especially the larger ones, the price of “Manousha dough was 3000 pounds”. Although the price per kilo of cakes has reached nine thousand pounds, it is assumed that the new prices of flour will raise its price, according to Ali Ibrahim, head of the Union of Bakers and Ovens, noting that “the increase, which today amounts to around 30% of the price of unsupported flour, it will inevitably be reflected in the same proportion in Products ». After that, the “subsidized” wad of white bread will catch up, especially with oven and mill owners waving to raise its price after donations end, citing, as every time, the prices of the materials involved. in their production, they are subject to the dollar on the black market.
Excess one ton of “extra” and “zero” flour is between 400,000 and 600,000 pounds
However, Brow prefers to connect the rings, from the mills to the large furnaces that have a monopoly on the market. Here, the series is the same, although the equations are not always the same. It is true that the mills today impose what they impose on the bakery owners, because the State has allowed them to monopolize the basic raw material for the livelihood of the people. However, the owners of the big bakeries have their part to humiliate the people and cut off the livelihood of the owners of small ovens who depend on the “manqousha”. What mill owners are doing today with these massive flour increases directly affects the small ovens that are starting to shut down, one by one.
However, Berro considers that the door is not closed to solutions, pointing to two basic solutions, the first of which is that the state imports wheat according to agreements “and this is reflected in the price, since it falls when imports are for the entire Lebanese people ”, provided delivery prices and fees are scheduled. However, this unfettered solution, especially because the State “does not have the keys to this file, but rather left it in the hands of the mills.” As for the second solution, it is to modify the subsidy mechanism. “Instead of being through traders and importers, including factory owners, let it be direct support to the people.”
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