DUBAI: Qatar’s Baladna plans to grow crops in Bulgaria and Romania as the Gulf state boosts its food security in the wake of a pandemic that has exposed the fragility of the global supply chain.
The Doha-listed company also plans to add 1,000 hectares of farm land to grow green crops as it expands its product line ahead of the 2022 World Cup.
Baladna managing director Ramez Al-Khayyat told Bloomberg TV on Wednesday it planned to add 50 more products this year to boost its domestic market while also expanding overseas.
“Today we are exporting to 11 countries from five countries last year,” he said. “In Romania and Bulgaria where we are targeting some backward integration in order to grow our crops there.”
Baladna has expanded rapidly in recent years as a rift between Qatar and some of its Gulf neighbors demanded an increase in domestic production of essential products and basic foods. However the recent thaw in regional relations has increased competition in Qatar’s food sector which is expected to grow rapidly ahead of next year’s FIFA World Cup which may see an influx of more than a million football fans to the country.
The pandemic has exposed the fragility of regional food supply lines and has encouraged Gulf economies to develop their domestic food industries, triggering a slew of investments across the sector.
Abu Dhabi’s ADQ recently bought a 50 percent stake in Al Dahra while the Abu Dhabi Investment Office also invested $100 million in four agritech companies to build facilities in the emirate including vertical farms. Saudi Arabia’s Salic, a food company owned by the Public Investment Fund has also acquired a 30 percent stake in Indian group Daawat Foods, to boost its rice supplies.
A report from the Global Network Against Food Crises released Wednesday said that nearly nearly 20 million more people faced food crises last year amid conflict, the COVID-19 pandemic and weather extremes.
The humanitarian agency warned that acute food insecurity continues to worsen.
“We must do everything we can to end this vicious cycle,” said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
Qatar moves from football to farming in post-pandemic food security push
https://arab.news/czykk
Qatar moves from football to farming in post-pandemic food security push
- The Doha-listed company also plans to add 1,000 hectares of farm land to grow green crops as it expands its product line ahead of the 2022 World Cup
US pump prices surge as Iran war upends global energy supply
- Fuel prices jump over 10 percent as oil prices surge
- Analysts predict further price rises due to market conditions
MARIETTA/NEW YORK : US retail gasoline and diesel prices are soaring as the US-Israel war with Iran constrains oil and fuel exports, which could be a political test for President Donald Trump’s Republican Party ahead of midterm elections in November.
Fuel prices jumped more than 10 percent this week as oil rose above $90 a barrel, its highest in years, adding pain at the pump for consumers already strained by inflation.
Trump on Thursday shrugged off higher gasoline prices in an interview with Reuters, saying “if they rise, they rise.”
The president had vowed to lower energy prices and unleash US oil and gas drilling during his second term, but much of his tenure has been marked by volatility and uncertainty amid shifts in policies like tariffs and geopolitical turmoil.
The US is the world’s largest oil producer. It is a major exporter but also imports millions of barrels a day since it is the world’s largest oil consumer.
As of Friday, the national average prices for regular gasoline stood at $3.32 a gallon, up 11 percent from a week ago and the highest since September 2024, according to data from the motorists association AAA. Diesel was at $4.33, up 15 percent from a week ago, surging to the highest since November 2023.
Midwest, south feel the pinch
US motorists in parts of the Midwest and the South, including states that supported Trump, have seen some of the steepest increases in fuel costs since the conflict in Iran started.
In Georgia, a swing state, average retail gasoline prices rose 40.1 cents a gallon over the past week, according to fuel tracking site GasBuddy.
Andrenna McDaniel, a health care insurance worker in South Fulton, Georgia, said she was surprised to see prices skyrocket overnight.
“They jumped up so quickly,” she said on Friday, adding that she does not agree with the war at all.
McDaniel, a Democrat, said that for now she is only driving for the most important things, and feels lucky that she works from home so she does not have to drive as much as other people do. Georgia voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
Trump voter Richard Soule, 69, a US Air Force veteran and a retired firefighter, said a little pain at the pump is worth Trump’s efforts to protect America.
“When President Trump went in there and bombed out their nuclear, and they just thumbed their nose at it, I believe he did the right thing at the right time,” Soule said on Friday as he filled up his Ford F-150 truck in Marietta, Georgia.
Other states, including Indiana and West Virginia have seen prices rise by 44.3 cents and 43.9 cents, respectively.
Prices may rise further
More pain may be on the way, analysts said, as oil prices continue to trend upward. On Friday, US oil futures settled at $90.90 a barrel, up nearly $10 and the biggest single-day rise since April 2020.
“Given current market conditions, the national average price of gasoline could climb toward $3.50 to $3.70 per gallon in the coming days if oil continues rising and supply disruptions persist,” GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan said.
The disruptions in the Middle East and the Strait of Hormuz, a key trade conduit, have boosted demand for US oil abroad, which in turn has driven up prices for domestic refiners too.
“The US has weaned itself off of its dependence on Middle Eastern crude, but obviously Asian refineries, and to a lesser extent, European refineries have not,” Denton Cinquegrana, chief oil analyst with OPIS. “That’s what you’re seeing happen in the spot market, because the demand for US exports rise, and so the price rise.”
Seasonal factors could add further pressure. Gasoline prices typically go up in the spring and peak in the summer due to higher gasoline demand and production of summer-blend gasoline, which is more costly to produce. Diesel fuel saw an even more aggressive jump since Iran began retaliating against US and Israeli strikes, significantly disrupting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Global diesel inventories have remained in tight supply due to heavy demand for heating and power generation during a prolonged winter in the US and other parts of the world and a structural tightness of refining capacity. Sticker prices of everything from food to furniture go up when the cost of diesel goes up, as the fuel is mainly used in freight transportation, manufacturing, agriculture, and global shipping, analysts said.
“In a world where buzzword seems to be ‘affordability’, that is certainly not going to help,” Cinquegrana said.
