Jordan is vying to break Israel’s dominance of a major cosmetics industry based on Dead Sea minerals famous for their therapeutic qualities but, despite an abundance of mud, still has far to go.
Two decades after production first started, the industry on the Jordanian side still has a turnover of just US$30 million a year and accounts for only 0.5 percent of the kingdom’s annual exports of about US$6 billion.
Israel’s Ahava, which markets its moisturizing lotions and a range of other Dead Sea products in 30 countries, alone earns more than US$150 million a year, five times more than all of the Jordanian companies.
Some 50 Jordanian firms produce Dead Sea cosmetics, but only 15 have a global presence in markets across the Middle East, Asia, Europe and the US.
“The kingdom is rich in materials and its Dead Sea shoreline is muddy, in contrast to Israel’s rocky shoreline,” said Osama Qutaishat, head of Jordan’s association of manufacturers of Dead Sea products and owner of one of its largest cosmetics companies.
Israel’s rocky shoreline has meant it has even imported raw materials from Jordan since the two countries signed a peace treaty in 1994.
“Many studies have shown that Dead Sea minerals including potassium, magnesium, silicon, sodium and calcium are effective in treating and preventing illnesses like psoriasis, eczema and acne,” Qutaishat said.
Landlocked between Jordan, Israel and the occupied West Bank, the Dead Sea is the world’s lowest and saltiest body of water.
Legend says the Queen of Sheba believed in its healing powers, and Egypt’s Cleopatra built a spa on its shores.
Lack of cooperation and the small size of the companies in the sector are the major problems of the industry, said Yarub Qudah, head of the state-owned Jordan Enterprise Development Corp.
“Their capabilities are limited. One of the solutions is systemized cooperation between the companies and the establishment of a consortium for exports,” he said.
“If the companies work properly, exports could reach 100 to 120 million dollars annually in five years,” he said, adding that if a plan to transform Dead Sea products into clinical products bears fruit, prices could jump “four or five times.”
Poor quality output by some firms has also been to blame, giving Jordanian products a bad name, the owners of some of the largest companies said.
Both Israel and Jordan are exploiting the Dead Sea tourist trade, with luxury hotels on either shore.
Both have also set up massive evaporation pools that harvest Dead Sea minerals like potash, or potassium carbonate, used to produce soap, glass, baking soda and fertilizers.
The Dead Sea, however, so named because virtually no life can tolerate its heavily salty waters, may be facing another kind of death — the sea’s surface level is plunging by a meter a year.
For centuries, the sea’s delicate balance was maintained by the Jordan river, its only year-round water source, but in recent decades Israel and Jordan have been diverting its waters into large irrigation projects.
The Dead Sea shoreline has receded by more than a kilometer in some places and the world-famous body of water could dry out completely by 2050, some calculations show.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
STORM’S PATH: Kong-Rey could be the first typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan in November since Gilda in 1967. Taitung-Green Island ferry services have been halted Tropical Storm Kong-rey is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon early today and could make landfall in Taitung County between late Thursday and early Friday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, Kong-Rey was 1,030km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the nation’s southernmost point, and was moving west at 7kph. The tropical storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126 kph, CWA data showed. After landing in Taitung, the eye of the storm is forecast to move into the Taiwan Strait through central Taiwan on Friday morning, the agency said. With the storm moving
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
RSS