JEDDAH: More than 1,000 bakeries in the Eastern Province have submitted a request to the authorities concerned at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the bakery committee at the Asharqia Chamber, demanding a hike in prices of their products, mainly due to the increase in the fuel prices in the Kingdom.

The have asserted that they intentionally avoided increasing the prices thus far without official approval, local media has reported..

A member of the bakery committee at the chamber, who preferred anonymity, said the committee cannot give approvals but will refer the request to the ministry to decide on the prices of commodities and goods.

Ali Mashhour, the owner of a bakery, said raising the price of bread must be approved by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, but control and supervision of prices are within the powers of the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs.

“But refusing to increase the prices will drive some bakeries to manipulate the specified weight of a loaf of bread, leading to a crisis similar to that witnessed when the prices of bread were increased in 2010 and 2013 from SR1 to SR2,” he said.

He expected the price of one bundle of bread to increase to SR3. “This is normal because the price of bread is closely linked to fuel prices,” he explained.

However, consumers flooded Twitter with objections. An activist said: “If the price of bread is increased, it will become a real economic crisis.”

Other tweeters introduced suggestions to control the prices, while the new municipal councils emphasized the importance of supervision and control, and demanded that the competent bodies intensify inspection tours before chaos prevails.

Anwar Majid, the director of a group of bakeries, said many bakeries threatened to withdraw from the market before the increase in fuel prices because of the Ministry of Labor’s decision on the Saudization rate, the lack of Saudi labor to work in these facilities, in addition to other obstacles facing investors in this sector including the labor and commercial cover-up, concealment practices and the fines imposed which drain the pockets of bakery owners.

He said that last year, about 100 bakeries were forced to shut down operations or change their commercial activity because of the hardships, including increasing health requirements, imposing fines, mandating training courses for workers and other obstacles.