The Syrian government faces an uphill struggle to secure enough wheat this year as expectations of a smaller harvest intensify competition for the crop with the rival Kurdish-led administration in the northeast of the country.
Syria’s pistachio crop reached its highest level in a decade last year, maintaining the country’s ranking as one of the world’s largest producers.
The Syrian government has offered farmers more than double what it paid for wheat and cotton last year, boosting the incentive for them to sell their harvest to Damascus instead of a rival administration in the northeast of the country.
Prominent Syrian businessman Samer Foz is set to open the country’s largest sugar refinery next month as the country struggles to secure enough of the commodity.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces seized control of three flour mills from the state-owned Syrian Grain Establishment (SGE) in the northeast of the country early last month, reflecting the growing strategic importance of the bread supply chain.
A Syrian state entity has extended the deadline for a tender to supply 25,000 tons of rice after failing to receive sufficiently attractive offers.
Syrians consumed an average of 4.4 kg of olive oil per capita in 2019, according to the International Olive Council, a global lobbying group.
The Syrian government has walked back from a decision that sought to limit inflation on consumer goods, relieving importers of most commodities from the obligation to sell a fixed share of their imports to state-owned entities at cost price.
Turkey has agreed to transport hundreds of tons of wheat stored in silos in a front line area in Raqqa province to the Syrian government in a deal mediated by Moscow to help ease the ongoing crisis around the key commodity, according to Russian media.
The Syrian government said it expects to receive 13,000 tons of tobacco for the 2020 season, which would mark an increase over the 11,250 tons produced in 2019.
A new factory to produce vegetable oil and soap has been set up in Hassakeh province under the control of Kurdish-dominated authorities, according to local media reports, some of which have linked the project to a war profiteer who has grown increasingly prominent throughout the conflict.
