More expensive dates? How the Mid-East conflict is affecting supply of Ramadan food in South-East Asia

Customers choosing dates at Elshanum, a store in Jakarta's Tanah Abang Market specialising in dates and Middle Eastern nuts. - ST/ANN

JAKARTA/SINGAPORE: At stalls in Jakarta’s Tanah Abang Market, stacks of imported dates and pistachios from Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt typically lure crowds of customers.

But traders at the market, South-East Asia’s largest wholesale hub, warn that supplies of these Ramadan bestsellers are thinning and prices are rising as the escalation of the Middle East conflict has tightened the supply of goods that traditionally arrive through Gulf trade routes.