Minister of Economy and Trade in the caretaker government, Raoul Nehme, announced an increase in the prices of wheat flour and bread amid a rise in global wheat prices.
The National News Agency reported a statement from the Minister of Economy and Trade, which explained that due to the ongoing and sharp increase in the price of wheat on the global exchange and the rise in the dollar exchange rate, and in order to preserve food security and based on a cost analysis schedule for manufacturing, distribution, and sale, new prices for wheat flour and the products made from it, especially bread, were decided.
The minister's statement set the price of a ton of wheat flour intended for the production of Lebanese bread (category 85), at the mill, at a maximum of 980,000 L.L. (Nine Hundred Eighty Thousand Lebanese Pounds). The price of a ton of "Zero" wheat flour, category 65, at the mill, was set at a maximum of 1,220,000 L.L. (One Million Two Hundred Twenty Thousand Lebanese Pounds). The price of a ton of "Extra" wheat flour, category 55, at the mill, was set at a maximum of 1,270,000 L.L. (One Million Two Hundred Seventy Thousand Lebanese Pounds). Additionally, the price of a ton of "Super Extra" wheat flour, category 45 and all other categories, at the mill, was set at a maximum of 1,500,000 L.L. (One Million Five Hundred Thousand Lebanese Pounds).
The minister's statement also mentioned setting the transportation costs of flour to bakeries according to the following table:
- Distance 1-37 km: Transport price 30,000 L.L.
- Distance 38-60 km: Transport price 40,000 L.L.
- Distance 61-85 km: Transport price 50,000 L.L.
- Distance 86-130 km: Transport price 65,000 L.L.
The statement clarified that based on the rise in the price per ton of flour, a scientific study of the bread bundle price index, and the rise in the dollar exchange rate, the price and weight of Lebanese "white" bread were established according to its size, indicating that the large size bundle: minimum weight of 930 grams, at a maximum price of 2,500 Lebanese pounds. The medium size bundle: minimum weight of 450 grams, at a maximum price of 1,750 Lebanese pounds.
Minister Nehme confirmed at the end of the statement that the price of the bread bundle will be reduced if the dollar exchange rate or the global wheat price falls.
