Jerash

- In an uncharacteristically accelerated manner, the prices of vegetable oils in the Jordanian market have risen steadily, exceeding 70% during the last period, which has strained consumers' budgets and increased the state of stagnation in the markets.

As a result of the rises, consumers and manufacturers accused commercial sectors and importers of “monopolizing vegetable oils and basic food commodities and refraining from selling them in the hope of increasing their prices with the approach of the blessed month of Ramadan.” This coincided with government decisions setting price ceilings for selling oils to protect consumers.

The successive rises in oils hindered the work of a young man in his thirties, Abdullah Musays, in his new restaurant for the production of pizza and pastries. He says that “the increase in vegetable oils, cheese and chicken by between 50 and 80% has disrupted the production process and reduced sales and profits.”

Masais - who set up his restaurant opposite the Roman Triumphal Arch in the ancient city of Jerash (northern Jordan) - is counting on increasing the number of tourists and visitors to the ancient city to raise sales, pay off debts, and expand his restaurant.

According to the statistics of the Jordanian Consumer Protection Association, vegetable oils have increased by 21% since the beginning of this year, while they have increased by 41% during the past year 2021.

Increases with declining sales

Adjacent to Masais is a popular restaurant selling food, its owner, Mustafa Al-Raymouni, complains about “the decline in sales and the increase in the prices of oils, chickpeas and beans by 100% for some types, especially oils.”

In his speech to Al Jazeera Net, Al-Raymouni accuses "traders and importers of high prices for vegetable oils and grains. The goods we buy from distributors are old in warehouses, and the dates of their packaging last year, while they attribute the reason to the Russian war on Ukraine."

The rise in cooking oil prices for restaurants - according to the head of the Consumer Protection Association, Muhammad Obeidat - leads to losses they cannot handle, which leads them to demand higher prices for their products, on which the majority of poor and medium families depend, which has a negative impact on those families.

Abdullah Musays suffers in his restaurant in Jerash from high oil prices (Al-Jazeera)

price chaos

The successive rises in the prices of basic food commodities for consumers are accompanied by a state of price chaos in the markets expressed by Nahla Al-Saud, who said that “the shops did not adhere to the pricing set by the Ministry of Industry for oils, and the prices vary from one store to another, and the reason for this is the weakness of market control before. Ministry teams.

Al-Saud wandering in a popular market in the center of Amman, searching among packages of vegetable oils for what was cheap, told Al-Jazeera Net that "a 1.3-liter can of frying oil is currently sold for 2.8 dinars ($4), while it was 1.5 dinars ($2.1), and with The price increase has reduced the amount of oil in the bottles.

This insane rise - according to consumers - in the prices of oils prompted the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply to set price ceilings for oils sold in the markets for a period of two weeks, in order to ensure their stability locally and reduce burdens on citizens, especially with the approach of the blessed month of Ramadan, and the ministry warned against exceeding the specified price ceilings.

The ministry does not expect - according to its official spokesman, Yanal Al-Barmawi - any "rises in the prices of food supplies during the month of Ramadan as a result of the presence of a sufficient stock of these materials," stressing to Al Jazeera Net that "85% of commodity prices are stable," attributing the reason for the increase in oil prices to “The global production of it has declined due to the Corona crisis and its consequences.

closures

The head of the Syndicate of Restaurant Owners, Omar Al-Awwad, attributes the main reason for the rise in oils in Jordan to “the state of monopoly among importers and traders.” It is true that there is a global rise in oils, but it is not at this scale in the local markets.

And the rises did not depend only on oils - Al-Awwad says to Al-Jazeera Net - but "the majority of production inputs, such as chickpeas, beans, red meat, chicken used in preparing shawarma, lemon salt, and others."

During the past two months, about 300 restaurants closed their doors as a result of high production costs, while about 4 thousand restaurants closed during the years 2020 and 2021 out of 22,000 restaurants in the Kingdom, due to the repercussions of the Corona crisis, the state of closures and the high prices of production requirements, according to Al-Awwad.

The Jordan Chamber of Commerce confirms that the high prices of oils and other foodstuffs are due to the crisis of the Russian war on Ukraine (Al-Jazeera)

taxes and customs

On the other hand, the Jordan Chamber of Commerce confirms that the high prices of oils and other foodstuffs are due to “the crisis of the Russian war on Ukraine and the consequences of the Corona pandemic,” stressing that the atmosphere of war “raised the global demand for basic food commodities, in addition to the disruption of commercial supply chains, and the lack of production quantities.” In producing countries, rising shipping costs, and increasing oil prices.

The Chamber's president, Nael Kabariti, expressed his refusal to "hold the merchants responsible for the rises," stressing in his speech to Al-Jazeera Net that "the commercial sector with low prices, because this stimulates commercial activity and raises demand and sales."

He added that the decline in the purchasing capabilities of consumers harmed the commercial sector and prompted shops to make offers and sell at cost to cover financial obligations, especially with the high operational and tax costs, calling on his country's authorities to "suspend the sales tax and customs duties paid on the Kingdom's food imports, especially vegetable oils." .

In a comparison of the high prices of vegetable oils in global markets conducted by the Jordanian Food Traders Syndicate between the current March and February 2021, it appears that the price of a ton of palm oil and ghee in 2022 amounted to $2250, while it was sold at $1,200 in 2021, while sunflower oil recorded 2100 dollars per ton currently, while it was sold at the beginning of 2021 at 1,700 dollars, and corn oil currently amounted to 2,400 dollars per ton, while it was sold last year at 1,700 dollars, and soybean oil was sold at two thousand dollars per ton, while it was sold last year at 1,600 dollars.

Jordan imports all its needs of vegetable oils from abroad, and these imported oils are refined and filled in 7 Jordanian factories, and imports are made from several countries, the most important of which are Malaysia, Indonesia and Ukraine.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), food prices worldwide recorded a record increase in February by 20% on an annual basis, led by vegetable oils and dairy products.

The rise in food prices contributed to increasing inflation as economies recovered from the Corona virus crisis, while the organization warns that rising costs may put the poorest populations at risk in countries that depend on imports.