Local demand for bakery products in the Eastern Province has dropped by more than 60 percent recently. Industry players say it happens every summer holiday and during Ramadan. The situation is expected to remain stagnant for bakeries until Eid. People reduce their consumption of bread and other baked products during this period. Muhammad Al-Nahdi, a bakery owner, said most bakeries schedule their workers' vacations at the beginning of the summer or Ramadan, “because the work is much less and the workers have to be reduced”. Most bakeries give their workers two-month vacations in that period, he added. He said it was unlikely there will be a shortage of flour with the market facing a crisis over barley. “It is unlikely this will happen,” he said. __
