Production of Essential Food Products Declines

The production and consumption volumes of a number of essential food products in Armenia have decreased during the period from January to November of this year.

According to the Statistics Committee of Armenia, the production volumes of bread decreased by 2.4 percent during this period.

The newspaper "Zhoghovurd" learned that in the 11 months of this year, a total of 243,100 tons of bread were produced in our republic, compared to 249,100 tons during the same period last year. Experts state that this decline is linked to the decrease in the resident population.

It is a well-known fact that as the population decreases, so does the consumption of essential food products, leading to a drop in production volumes. If the sole reason for the decrease in bread production volumes is emigration, then the situation with salt is different, as imports play a significant role.

Data from the Statistics Committee of Armenia indicates that there has been a record decline in the production volumes of salt. "Zhoghovurd" newspaper reports that while 29,120 tons of salt were produced from January to November in 2017, last year’s production volume during the same period was only 20,716 tons. This indicates a reduction of 28.9 percent in salt production.

Most likely, the reason for this decline is the volume of salt imports, as the population prefers to use products from other countries.

By the way, the only salt-producing enterprise in Armenia, the "Avan Salt Plant," continues to raise alarms about the large quantities of imported salt from Iran. According to the company’s director, Areg Ghukasian, the imported salt is cleared at "ridiculous prices," and the chemical composition of the technical and industrial salt produced in Iran is not checked at the border.

For more details, refer to the latest issue of the newspaper.