An industrial paradox unfolds as a considerable salt shortage grips the manufacturing sector, despite the country sitting atop a vast reserve of this crucial industrial commodity.

The situation, as described by the Minister of Industry, Melaku Alebel, appearing last week before parliament's standing committee for Industry & Mining, chaired by Amarech Bekalo (PhD), brings to the fore the inefficiencies within the supply chain that are starving the manufacturing sector of an essential resource. He warned about the severe implications of salt scarcity on manufacturing outputs.

Despite an ample deposit in Afar Regional State, capable of yielding 36 million quintals of salt, manufacturers are forced into a corner, due to the lack of supply. Melaku described the situation as a "paradox of sorts," with vast salt reserves lying unused due to market access constraints and factories facing acute shortages.

"It's rather shameful to admit that there is a salt shortage," Melaku said.

The Ministry's half-year report to Parliament disclosed that manufacturing industries received only 63pc of their salt demand to the tune of 157,000Qtls.

The crux of the issue lies in the newly implemented regulations that mandate the infusion of "Naphthalene" in industrial salt, a requirement that has sidelined the traditional supply chain agents and led to the shutdown of processing plants. The regulatory curveball has not only caught miners and processors off guard but also compounded the operational despairs of sectors heavily reliant on salt, such as leather tanning.

Batu Tannery Plc, a leather tanning company incorporated 24 years ago, now operates at a mere third of its daily 3,000 square feet capacity, its General Manager, Tatek Yirga, disclosed. It is struggling to source the salt, which used to be primarily supplied by the Ethiopian Industrial Inputs Development Enterprise (EIIDE). The shortage has forced Tatek to search for the premium-priced markets of the Mercato area for the 2,000Qtls of salt his company requires monthly, a move that eats into the company's margins and operational efficiency.

"Our problems have piled on top of one another," he told Fortune.

A history of logistical and political upheaval mars the salt market. Following the war with Eritrea, Ethiopia's salt supply chain underwent a significant transformation, shifting from Eritrean processing plants to Djibouti and recently established plats in the Afar Regional State. The changes, while geographically logical given Afar's proximity to the salt-rich Dinkali Depression, introduced new problems in transporting the mineral over 1,000Km to the capital and other industrial hubs.

The logistical puzzle is further complicated by the plight of salt miners like Anwar Ahmed in Afdera Woreda. Despite the hard labour, he has found himself unable to sell a kilo of salt over the past five months due to regulatory and technical barriers. The story of Anwar, struggling to provide for his family amid these market failures, paints a contrasting picture of the human cost underlying the industrial salt crisis.

The shutdown of SVS Salt Production PLC, a reliable market for miners with an annual capacity of nearly 540,000tns, and new legislation requiring the infusion of Naphatlene for industrial salt in Afar have eliminated available buyers.

"I don't even know what Naphatlene is," said Anwar, who is among the 2,500 miners in Afdera who have a monthly quota to produce 675,000Qtls, of which half is supplied to the four processing plants in the region, with the rest supplied to enterprises owned by the regional state.

"Someone should bring these chemicals," he said. "So that we can get on with our lives."

A directive for Naphthalene infusion and the prohibition of raw salt export from mining regions, issued by officials of the Ministry of Trade & Regional Integration (MoTRI), has not only disrupted the supply chain but also raised the salt prices significantly. Alemu Assefa, from EIIDE, recounts the immediate price surge by 500 Br to 1,200 Br following the directive's enforcement and the seizure of salt shipments for lacking Naphthalene, a compound many, including those in the industry, are unfamiliar with.