Cost of essentials up as COVID-19 disrupts trade with Turkey

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Prices for some essential consumer goods like flour and cooking oil have risen in recent days as measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the Kurdistan Region and Turkey cause disruption to trade.  

A ton of flour used to cost around $400, one Erbil vendor told Rudaw on Monday. Now, “the price of flour is up $50-100 per ton.” 

Demand for flour remains high in the Kurdistan Region where many bakeries have continued working despite the lockdown. However, additional measures at the Turkish border have disrupted supply.  

Turkey no longer allows its drivers to enter the Kurdistan Region. Instead it applies a “contactless” policy, whereby drivers, containers, and trailers are exchanged in the buffer zone. 

As a result of the measures, the flow of cargo has slowed by 30-35 percent, according to Abdullah Masiki, head of Duhok Trade Monitoring. 

Izzadin Jalal, head of Erbil Trade Monitoring, said the number of freight containers entering the Kurdistan Region from Turkey has fallen from around 2,000-3,000 per day to around 700-800. 

Kurdish businessmen used to pay truck drivers around $900 to transport goods to Erbil, Jalal told Rudaw. This has now risen to around $2,500, as journeys that previously took 24 hours can now take up to five days. 

Soran Abdulghafour, head of Sulaimani Trade Monitoring, said Kurdish businessmen are paying up to $4,000 to transport goods from the Turkish border. 

Panic buying has also squeezed supplies and raised demand – impacting prices. 

During a visit to Sulaimani on Monday, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) trade minister Kamal Muslim reassured the public the disruption will not lead to food shortages. 

“Food will not be an issue for people,” he told reporters.

The price of rice – a staple item on Kurdish dinner tables – currently remains unchanged. Prices for locally produced items, including flour, have also remained stable, according to trade monitors.

Ruhsar Pekcan, Turkey’s trade minister, has said “contactless” trade with the Kurdistan Region via the Ibrahim Khalil border crossing in Duhok will continue, despite the rapid spread of the virus on both sides of the border. 

“Exports to Iraq have been carried out without contact in the buffer zone between Habur-Ibrahim Khalil border crossings through the exchange of containers, trailers, and drivers since March 1, 2020,” Pekcan said in a statement. 

Ibrahim Khalil is the only border crossing between Turkey and the Kurdistan Region used for trade. Another crossing near Barzan, used for non-commercial traffic, has been closed due to the pandemic. 

Baghdad also relies on Ibrahim Khalil border crossing for trade with Turkey. 

Trade between the two countries amounts to around $10 billion per year.

As of Monday evening, Iraq and the Kurdistan Region have confirmed 630 COVID-19 infections, 46 deaths, and 152 recoveries.

Turkey meanwhile confirmed a further 1,610 new cases of COVID-19 and 37 more deaths on Monday, bringing the total number of cases to 10,827 and the death toll to 168, according to health minister Fahrettin Koca.