Salt mills in Aden.. Secrets of the oldest industry known to Yemen
English - Thursday 05 August 2021 الساعة 10:39 am
NewsYemen, Al Ain News:
Ancient mills stand in the eastern region of the Yemeni city of Aden, telling the story of the oldest industry known to Yemen, which relied on the sea water surrounding the city.
These mills, standing tall for nearly 135 years, bear witness to one of the finest types of sea salt in the world, produced here and in this city, which ranked first internationally at the beginning of the nineties of the last century and the beginning of this century.
The sea salt from the seas of Aden, which these salt mills grinded, was unmatched by any other kind; As a result of its extraction methods based on mills.
While these methods seem traditional, the purity of the sea water in the city gives the salt of Aden a special advantage that made it lead the global salt markets in a period of time.
History and nobility
The history of this industry is not lacking in the Yemeni city of Aden. Its first beginnings go back to 1886 when the first company for the production of salt was established in Aden, during the British occupation of the city.
However, the reality of the salt industry in Aden faces real risks that may lead to its extinction, in light of the continued deterioration in its production situation and the absence of any official role in reviving this ancient industry.
The salt production sector in Aden has been witnessing a progressive decline since the end of the last century, after it was one of the most prestigious production sectors in the world in quality. In 1989, it won the Bronze Award, and the Gold Award for Quality from Europe in 2001.
handicraft
The salt industry is based on sea water, where salt is extracted in a traditional way by pumping water into large pools, and left under the sun to precipitate the salt by evaporation, which is then subjected to grinding.
The grinding process is carried out by windmills that have been in place for more than 130 years, grinding hard blocks of salt that look like brittle rock.
Through mechanical machines, the ground salt is transported from inside the mills to places designated to be collected in large piles, as the last stages of sea salt production.
Industry Reality
According to official statistics issued by the salt sector in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Aden, production operations have declined over the past two decades.
The latest figures on the quantities of sea salt production in 2012 indicate a decline in the quantity of production to 23 thousand tons annually, compared to about 125 thousand tons annually in 1990.
No recent statistics have been available since 2015 until now, due to declining institutional interest, monitoring and documentation processes.
The reports of the Chamber of Commerce attribute the reasons for this decline to the control of influential people over the lands and basins of the National Salt Corporation in Aden, especially since the location of the salinas is in the middle of a large and empty area.
In addition to the absence of a culture of commercial competition, and the opening of the door to importing quantities of foreign salt, which made the corporation's revenues sufficient to cover the salaries of employees and workers only, without thinking of achieving additional profits.
