Growing Displacement to Port Sudan Sees Soaring Prices for Beds and Furnishing
(AWP) - Sudanese woman Al-Hana Nasser was shocked to find that prices of locally-made iron beds and furnishings had doubled in the local markets of Port Sudan, where she arrived after a journey of displacement from the city of Wad Madani.
She had hoped to buy furniture after sleeping on the floor with her family for two weeks.
Thousands of families have fled to Port Sudan to escape the ongoing fighting in other areas of the country between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a conflict which began in mid-April and has escalated in recent weeks.
Nasser said, “We found that prices have doubled. I appeal to the people, officials and all those with kind hearts to consider us. The circumstances are difficult. Our arrival here cost us [a lot of money]. We hope to find what we need because we have children and elderly people with us and are suffering God knows how much.”
Traders say the huge increase in the prices of iron, and the wages of workers manufacturing it, has led to a near-daily increase in the prices of locally-made iron beds and cotton furnishings. This is particularly true amid the high demand caused by the influx of displaced people to Port Sudan after security incidents in the city of Wad Madani, al-Jazirah state.
Bishara Mohamed Farah, a furniture trader who owns a store at a local market in Port Sudan, said, “We buy goods directly from wholesalers to sell to customers here. By the time we go back to the wholesalers for more stock, we are told the prices have risen. I ask what the reason is, having paid the sum in advance, and he says that the price of iron has increased and the companies do not have any. So wholesalers buy them at high prices and sell them for even higher rates.”
The halt in iron manufacturing in Khartoum since the outbreak of war has led to a significant increase in its price. Traders have resorted to importing it from abroad while the local currency has been depreciating for several months.
Manufacturers of local beds say the production sector is witnessing a high demand but making low profits in light of surging production costs.