Flour crisis looms in Lebanon as several mills halt operation

BEIRUT, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Several wheat mills in southern Lebanon have halted operation, threatening 50 percent of the Lebanese market's flour supply, local media reported Tuesday.

Head of Bakeries Syndicate in Mount Lebanon Antoine Seif told Lebanon's MTV channel on Tuesday that three mills stopped working after a shipment of wheat from Ukraine was exposed to moisture.

"The mills have to put the wheat in warehouses for the Ministry of Agriculture to take test samples," he was quoted by the TV network as saying.

Several mills in Lebanon face a shortage of wheat while some others were ordered to halt operation due to legal violations, the National News Agency reported, citing Ali Rammal, a mill agent and flour distributor in the south.

Rammal said the affected mills supply more than 50 percent of the Lebanese market's needs and the wheat flour stock is sufficient only for the market demand for 25 days, according to the report.

Lebanon's Minister of Economy and Trade Amin Salam earlier announced that the Ukraine-Russia conflict has hampered Lebanon's access to sufficient wheat supply, adding that his ministry was trying to secure other sources of the commodity.