كارثة حقيقية: 30 بالمئة من مصانع لبنان مغلقة و70 بالمئة تعاني من انخفاض المبيعات بنسبة 90 بالمئة!

A Real Disaster: 30% of Factories in Lebanon Closed and 70% Suffering from 90% Sales Decline!

The economic sectors in Lebanon are facing disastrous repercussions from the war, with the Vice President of the Lebanese Industrialists Association, Ziad Bekdash, stating in an interview with Economy Leb that the current situation has become tragic. Sales in many sectors have plummeted by between 80% and 90% due to dire circumstances.

Bekdash pointed out that 30% of factories are located in conflict zones such as Bekaa, southern suburbs, and the south, and these factories have been closed. Meanwhile, the remaining 70% of factories are experiencing severe drops in sales, except for those specializing in producing food, pharmaceuticals, cleaning products, and consumer goods.

In his remarks about the industrial sector, Bekdash mentioned that food and pharmaceutical factories are now operating at significantly lower rates than before, with working hours drastically reduced. Factories that once operated 24 hours a day are now down to 12 hours, while those that worked 18 hours have been cut to 8. This decline is attributed to a labor shortage, as many foreign workers have left Lebanon due to the current situation, and many Lebanese workers have relocated far from their workplaces.

Bekdash revealed another crisis related to the difficulty of paying employee salaries, noting that the money owed to factory owners by their customers in volatile areas cannot be collected under the current circumstances. Since 2019, most factories received payment immediately upon delivery, but this changed in the past two months as some factories began offering credit terms of 15 to 30 days, just before the current escalations began.

He considered that factories experiencing a 90% drop in sales may stop paying their employees or reduce salary amounts. Bekdash confirmed that the challenging export situation has heavily impacted the industrial sector, as exporting to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain is no longer possible, and industrialists have faced difficulties obtaining visas to travel to the UAE.

Moreover, he noted that many factories can no longer export to Syria and Jordan due to the closure of the crossing, although there are costly alternatives for exporting from northern Lebanon. Regarding the import of raw materials, Bekdash affirmed that pharmaceutical and consumer goods factories continue to import materials normally, but the fear of port closures or an escalation of the conflict makes the current situation precarious. Insurance against war adds an extra burden to import costs.

In conclusion, Bekdash indicated that factories with drastically reduced sales will not renew their raw material inventories, as the situation remains unstable and there is no certainty about what will happen in the future or how long the war will last.