Owners of some bakeries in Riyadh warned against another flour crisis this Ramadan when demand for flour increases by 50 percent. Grain Silos and Flour Mills Authority assured consumers and owners of bakeries of the strict measures taken by the authority to meet the demand for flour especially with the launching of the new projects, Al-Hayat reported. Rabi' Abbasa Riyadh bakery worker, expects that there will be a crisis during Ramadan because of the increased demand. “It should be taken into consideration that samosa is the main dish for most Saudis and expatriates in the Kingdom, which means that they consume additional quantities of flour,” Abbasa said. He said that the situation so far is under control but as Ramadan approaches flour demand will increase. He said the price of a bag of flour weighing 45 Kg will increase to SR70 compared to SR50 currently. It may even reach SR100 after five days of Ramadan. Abdul Aziz Al-Bassam, Director General of Grain Silos, said the recent shortage of flour over the past few months is in the past. The prices of flour in the Kingdom are the lowest in the world because the state subsidizes flour. Al-Bassam said the silos produce all together more than 50 million bags annually pointing out that the new silos in Riyadh and Jouf will be opened soon. He stressed that the production capacity of the new silos is more than 8 million bags annually. He said the government has allocated SR500 million for setting up grain silos in Makkah with a capacity of 1,200 tons per day. Yusuf Al-Ghaffari, executive president of Al-Othaimeen Markets Company, said India and Pakistan have imposed new restrictions on rice exports due to the global increase in demand for rice and also due to inflation in those countries. Al-Ghaffari said Gulf countries consume 75 percent of the Basmati and Punjabi rice produced in India and Pakistan respectively. He said 95 percent of Saudis use 30 to 40 percent of the rice they cook as leftovers. Saudis spend SR3 billion on rice annually. He urged consumers to use the goods they buy rationally in order to decrease demand.
