Gaza Flour Mills Impacted by Russian-Ukraine Conflict, Reports Reuters

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA – Three months into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has disrupted access to affordable Black Sea wheat, mill owners in the Gaza Strip are facing significant challenges as they work to restock their inventories.

The price of wheat has surged by approximately 20%, making it difficult for the five mills in the territory to compete with slightly cheaper imported flour from Egypt and the West Bank, where production costs are lower.

Abdel-Dayem Abu Awwad, the general director of Gaza’s largest mill, AL-Salam Mills Company, shared that the ongoing crisis has led them to lay off most of their staff of 54 and reduce operating hours. "Our capacity used to be 400 tonnes of wheat per day or 300 tonnes of flour. Now, it’s fallen to just 10 to 20% of that," he explained while observing the largely inactive machines at the facility in southern Gaza.

A 50-kg sack of flour from his mill now costs 120 shekels, while imported flour from Egypt or the West Bank is roughly 10 shekels cheaper. Before the conflict in Ukraine, the same sack sold for 97 shekels.

"The primary cause is the Russian-Ukraine war. We had enough stock for two to three months, but once that ran out, we had to purchase wheat at significantly higher prices," he noted.

Together, Russia and Ukraine supply nearly a third of the world’s wheat, and the disruptions caused by the war have driven prices up globally.

This crisis coincides with the beginning of Gaza’s wheat harvest; however, the annual yield typically meets only about a week’s demand in the territory, which has a population of 2.3 million and consumes up to 500 tonnes of flour daily.

In the village of Mughraqa, Amani Ayyad, a mother of six, expressed her frustrations over rising prices. "Prices for cooking oil, flour, and sugar are all increasing. We’ve endured the blockade and division, but what can people do when they can’t afford food? It’s a slow death," she lamented from her humble two-room home.

Approximately two-thirds of Gaza’s residents rely on assistance from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which distributes food to refugee families. Though UNRWA has managed to sustain deliveries so far, it has called for additional funding from donor nations to cope with escalating prices.

"Should UNRWA’s aid be delayed or stop altogether, it would spark a crisis, as refugees are heavily reliant on it," warned Samir Al-Adham, a father of four, at a food distribution center in the Beach refugee camp.