From Economic Pillar to Crisis: Palestine’s Stone and Marble Industry Fights to Survive

HEBRON, West Bank / PNN /

As economic and political challenges continue to weigh on the Palestinian industrial sector, factories and production facilities are facing mounting pressures, ranging from difficulties in moving goods between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank to restrictions on the movement of products between Palestinian governorates and rising energy and production costs.

The challenges are directly affecting the ability of Palestinian industries to compete and remain operational, at a time when there is growing need for legislation and national plans to support productive sectors, particularly industry and agriculture, with the stone and marble industry facing some of the most serious pressures.

Nour al-Din Jaradat, former head of the General Federation of Palestinian Industries, said the Palestinian industrial sector faces a series of accumulated problems that have negatively affected the performance of local industries, including the stone and marble sector.

He said the continued challenges have limited the sector's ability to maintain production and compete in local and international markets.

Jaradat said the suspension of trade between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, along with restrictions affecting the movement of goods between several Palestinian governorates, is among the main factors hurting Palestinian industries. Such restrictions, he said, have created additional obstacles to the movement of finished products and raw materials.

He also pointed to internal economic challenges, particularly the high cost of energy in Palestine, which he described as among the highest in the world. High energy prices directly increase production costs and make it more difficult for factories to maintain jobs, while also contributing to higher prices for goods and products ultimately paid by Palestinian consumers.

Jaradat said reviving the industrial sector requires the adoption of new legislation as well as a comprehensive national plan to strengthen the Palestinian economy, particularly the industrial and agricultural sectors.

He described the two sectors as fundamental pillars of any state or governing authority seeking to improve social and economic conditions.

Jaradat stressed the need to prioritize industry as a key component of the Palestinian economy, with particular attention to the stone and marble industry.

He described stone and marble as an important Palestinian industry, noting that the availability of raw stone across the Palestinian mountain ranges was one of the main factors behind the sector's significant development.

The impact of the crisis has extended beyond rising production costs and trade restrictions to directly affect the stone and marble sector, one of the most important industrial and employment-generating sectors in Palestine.

The sector has suffered declines in production and access to markets, as well as a reduction in the number of workers, amid closures and a sharp slowdown in exports and construction projects.

Ouda Jaradat, a stone and marble trader, said the sector had long been one of Palestine's most important industries and a major pillar of the Palestinian economy.

He said the sector once directly employed between 25,000 and 30,000 workers, in addition to thousands of indirect jobs linked to the industry.

The importance of the sector extends beyond stone processing, Jaradat said, encompassing a broad economic chain that begins with extracting stone from quarries in different parts of Palestine, followed by transportation and trucking, and ultimately its use in construction projects, roads, infrastructure and interior and exterior finishing.

Jaradat said his factory previously employed between 50 and 60 workers, with the number sometimes rising to about 80 during periods of strong activity, when production was higher, construction projects were expanding and exports and international markets were active.

His factory was not primarily dependent on the local market, he said. Domestic sales accounted for only about 10% to 15% of total sales, while most of the business was directed toward external markets, particularly Israel, as well as the Gaza Strip.

Jaradat said the stone and marble sector began facing growing difficulties during the coronavirus pandemic, followed by the war and the closures and restrictions on movement and trade that accompanied it.

He described the past six or seven years as particularly difficult, saying they had placed enormous pressure on the sector.

The decline in markets and the disruption of much of the export and production activity have directly affected factories and workers, he said.

His factory, which once employed dozens of workers, has been forced to reduce its workforce and scale back production under current conditions. With work and production declining, he said, reducing the number of employees has become an unavoidable measure for factory owners seeking to keep their businesses operating.

The crisis has affected not only production and employment but also buying and selling across the stone and quarrying industry.

As closures continue and markets and construction activity decline, quarry owners and stone and marble companies are facing increasingly difficult conditions. Lower demand and the slowdown in commercial activity have affected employment and wages and weakened the sector's ability to remain operational.

Mohammed Halaika, owner of Tafesh Quarries and Stone Cutting Co., said working conditions in the sector had reached unprecedented levels, describing the current situation as the worst in the industry's history.

Halaika said business activity had nearly come to a complete standstill, with virtually no meaningful work and little buying or selling taking place.

He said conditions changed dramatically after Oct. 7 and have directly affected nearly every aspect of the stone industry's operations.

The downturn has also affected workers, Halaika said, as the sharp decline in business has made it increasingly difficult for companies to retain employees and meet their operational needs.

Halaika also pointed to delays in the payment of salaries to Palestinian Authority employees as an additional factor affecting the stone industry. He said public-sector employees, including those in education, had represented part of the demand connected to the construction and stone sectors through building projects and purchases.

Halaika said the stone industry is among the sectors hardest hit during the current period. While the prices of many goods and services have increased, stone prices have not risen at the same rate, placing additional pressure on quarry owners, businesses and workers in the sector.

The industry is facing extremely difficult conditions amid a lack of market activity and declining demand, Halaika said, making it increasingly difficult for businesses to maintain the level of operations they once had.

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