Is there a need for panic? Why salt has risen in price and is there enough for everyone

Europe’s largest salt mining enterprise Artyomsol State Enterprise stopped work due to shelling. This was one of the reasons why salt began to disappear from store shelves, and prices per kilogram sometimes rose to 90 UAH.

Vitaly Loginov, the owner of TM SOLEVAR and TM Solonka, spoke about what else influenced this situation with the product.

Why prices have risen and is there enough salt for everyone

The entrepreneur notes that because of the war, many enterprises in Ukraine no longer work. In addition, retail warehouses have been lost. There were also logistical problems due to the war. Therefore, prices have risen both for goods and for their production components.

Added to this is also the burden on regional markets, because many were forced to move to other regions of the country. After all, the season of households for pickles has begun.

All these factors have led to the fact that salt in Ukraine has risen in price.

At the same time, Loginov notes that there is enough salt for shops. It is available both at state enterprises and at surviving warehouses.

But the reason why the shelves are partially filled is to keep balance and demand.

“Even before the war, salt on the shelves was from different countries of origin – from the sea to Pakistan, even cereals and spices. Today, logistics has become a problem, closed ports, the railway, so in fact our vehicles are all for today. And this requires time for delivery and increase prime cost”, Loginov noted.

He added that people’s needs are significantly less than the amount people buy in a panic.

“My family needs 0.5 kg of salt per month. There is no need to buy up and put pressure on the market,” Loginov emphasized.

How are they solving the problem now?

According to the entrepreneur, producers and market players are now uniting and forming routes for the delivery of salt. Loginov added that Ukraine has all kinds of salt, and after the war the state needs to pay attention and restore the salt industry from the Crimea, Kherson to Drohobych and Solotvyno.

Problems may arise, but not in ordinary people. They will affect the manufacturing industries, and in the winter utilities.

The deputy of the Kyiv city council Konstantin Yalovoy also spoke about this. According to him, if rock salt in the kitchen can be replaced with sea salt, then in industry there is no such possibility. Food producers will face extraordinary problems, because the season of canning vegetables is on the nose.

On top of that, there is a shortage of salt in the chemical industry, as well as in the enterprises responsible for the winter treatment of roads and runways.

In general, in Ukraine, in addition to Artemsol, there are two more well-known (from other) deposits: Slavyanskoye, which is located in the Donetsk region, where the situation is also quite difficult, and Solotvinskoye in Zakarpattia, which began to erode after major floods in 1998 and 2001 and generally has an outdated production.

Segodnya used to say that consumer inflation in Ukraine accelerated to 16.4% on an annualized basis, since the beginning of this year prices have risen by 10.9%, and if compared with March, then by 3.1%.

We also discussed with experts what other goods will be in short supply in Ukraine while the war continues.