Security situation in Syria, Iraq a blow to exporters

AMMAN — Exporters of fruits and vegetables have lost hundreds of millions of Jordanian dinars since the outbreak of unrest in Syria in 2011 and the recent security developments in Iraq, their association said Wednesday.

Jordan usually exports about 200,000 to 250,000 tonnes of fruits of vegetables to Syria every year and the same quantity to Iraq, but all exports to Syria have been halted since the start of the violence there, according to Zuheir Jweihan, president of the Jordan Exporters and Producers Association for Fruit and Vegetables. 

In addition, exports to Iraq are currently disrupted. At other times they decline by 50 per cent, he said.

“The situation is catastrophic. Syria is Jordan’s gateway into Turkey and Europe,” Jweihan told The Jordan Times. 

Jordan’s exports of fruit and vegetables to European markets and Turkey through Syria are completely halted, he said.

“Some exporters now ship their produce by air or by sea, but it costs much more than land transportation. Many exporters went out of business after the developments in Syria because there is no other cheaper way to export to Europe,” Jweihan added.

The deteriorating security conditions in Iraq have also worsened the situation as Baghdad imports large quantities of agricultural produce from Jordan, especially fruit.

“If this situation continues, many more farmers will go out of business. Hundreds of employees have already been laid off by exporters and I expect the situation to worsen if stability is not restored in Syria and Iraq,” Jweihan added.

Many exporters, he said, are in financial troubles as they resorted to loans to open new farms to export to Europe, but with the exports stopped they have been incurring losses and their debts are accumulating.

Jweihan added that the halt in exports has also led to a drop in the local prices of fruits and vegetables.