Israel-Palestine conflict gradually impairs Palestinian aluminium industry

The ongoing geopolitical conflict between Israel and Palestine has hit the aluminium factories in Palestine in terms of production and profits. Muhanad Nairoukh, manager of one of the three biggest aluminium factories in the occupied West Bank of Palestine, has reportedly told Al Jazeera that the industry is near a halt.

Effects of the conflict

He says his company is operating at 40 per cent of its capacity, and production is reduced by 60 per cent. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) estimated at the end of December 2023 that the economy of the State of Palestine shrank to $1.5 billion during the initial days of the conflict, equivalent to approximately $25m per day, excluding direct losses in properties and assets.

As an effect of the geo-political crisis, the internal transportation and shipment costs in Palestine soared, affecting production costs.

The checkpoints at several locations caused additional inconveniences, like creating difficulties for workers to reach their workplaces on time and rerouting the shipments, affecting the imports of raw materials from overseas countries like China, Italy, Spain, and Turkey. 

The closure of ports due to the geopolitical crisis also caused transportation delays, leading to inflated costs. 

Muhanad Nairoukh added that the conflict between Israel and Palestine increased the shipment cost from China to $7,600 – 360 per cent more than earlier.

No sales, no profits

Nairoukh also noted that aluminium sales decreased drastically to a near standstill due to the adversely affected construction sector. October to May, which is usually a high season for construction, turned out to be a season of significant loss in 2023. 

Collecting money against older orders has also become complicated due to the rising cases of cheque bounce. People who wrote the cheques a few months ago now have empty bank accounts. In just one day, about 67,000 shekels ($18,000) worth of cheques bounced.

Taking a toll on livelihoods

All these complications have taken a serious toll on employees. While companies’ owners are facing difficulties in paying wages to their employees, the latter is facing trouble commuting to work on a daily basis. 

Rakan Ibrahim Abu Al-Hur, who lives near Bethlehem, considers himself lucky to still have his job cutting and processing aluminium rolls. He tells Al Jazeera how difficult it is now to commute back and forth from his village of ash-Shawawra to Bethlehem for work.

“I hope this all ends soon because if the war doesn’t stop, everything will collapse and I’ll lose my job,” Rakan says sadly.