Flour mills will suspend operations as soon as Tuesday if they don’t receive their needs of fuel, the Lebanese millers’ association warned on the same day.
“The Association of Mills in Lebanon announces the depletion of diesel fuel that has started to threaten all mills with the forced suspension of production, which could lead to a flour crisis,” the association said in a statement.
Efforts made by caretaker Economy Minister Raoul Nehme and the association itself have not yielded any positive results in terms of providing fuel for mills across the country, according to the statement.
This poses a serious threat to the essential milling industry and, in turn, to the production of bread and related products.
In an effort to avert this threat, the millers urged all concerned officials to “take swift action before it’s too late.”
The stock of diesel fuel at mills has been depleted, “and the facilities will stop working gradually, most likely starting from today,” they warned.
Mills have not received the quantities of fuel they need for 10 days, despite receiving multiple promises that they would, the millers finally noted.