Salt |
The Enterprise plans to distribute 100,000 quintals of iodine-free salt in the next two months
In a letter written
to the Ethiopian Industrial Inputs Development Enterprise (EIIDE) two
weeks ago, the Ministry of Trade (MoT) gave the full mandate to EIIDE to
be the sole distributor of salt that is used as industrial input.
The letter signed
by Assed Ziad, state minister of Trade, granted the enterprise full
authority to purchase and distribute iodine-free salt to the industries
that demand it. Before the move of the Ministry, private investors
solely distributed the salt.
The new arrangement
does not have any connection with iodised and edible salt, according to
Endris Negus, deputy chief executive officer of the industrial inputs
development centre at EIIDE. "The distribution of edible salt will
continue the way it is now, the new arrangement has nothing to do with
that," said Endris.
EIIDE was first
established in 1993 under the name of Merchandise Wholesale & Import
Trade Enterprise (MEWIT) by the merger of two different entities.
However, it was re-established as EIIDE in 2015. It had the aim of
supplying basic commodities to industries either on a credit or
consignment basis. This is in addition to its role as a commercial
representative for various foreign companies.
EIIDE will
distribute the salt to these industries from Afar Regional State
straight to the different regions where they are located or arrange for
them to get it from the Enterprise's warehouses. The new stream of
distribution will minimise the contraband trading of salt, and protect
consumers from buying iodine-free salts, which is not supposed to be
used for food consumption.
This comes as
iodine deficiency disorders are causing a serious health problem in the
country, resulting in 52pc of women in the reproductive age and 47.5 of
school-aged children to face the risk of iodine deficiency.
Previously the
Enterprise has distributed 10,000 quintals of salt to the industries. It
also plans to distribute 100,000 quintals within the next two months.
But its monthly supply may vary from 50,000 quintals to 70,000 quintals
depending on the demand.
The salt that is
used as an industrial input has high demand especially from the leather
producing industry which uses the product for preservation purposes.
Besides the leather industry, the textile industry and wastewater
treatment plants are reportedly among the sectors that use salt as an
input.
The distribution
system is also expected to bring about price stabilisation, thereby
supporting the manufacturing industry and assisting them to be more
competitive.
The price between
the salt distributed by EIIDE and private distributors shows significant
differences, according to a person who is involved in the business of
leather distribution. The salt sold by EIIDE costs between 450 Br and
500 Br a quintal, which is 150 Br lower than the price charged by
private distributors.
Some industry insiders welcome the move of MoT to assign EIIDE.
"Before the
involvement in the distribution, there was a scarcity of salt for
industrial purposes," said a leather distributor, who supplies the
product to various tanneries in the country.
The shortage of
salt was one of the reasons attributed to the drop in the exports
earnings of leather and leather products of the country. The country
earned only 115.3 million dollars in 2015/16, dropping by 12.4pc
compared with the previous fiscal year, according to the Ethiopian
Leather Industry Development Institute (ELIDI).
Previously some
industries that use salt as an input used to get the supply from Afdera
and Semera in Afar Regional State. Studies indicate that more than
250,000tn of salt is consumed annually in Ethiopia.
Anybody intending
to buy salt for industrial input purposes should only do so from EIIDE
or the act will be considered illegal, according to the new mandate
given to the Enterprise.
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