Lebanon

Lebanon has to be described honestly or not at all. Since the financial collapse that began in 2019 the banking system has not functioned normally for trade, letters of credit are largely unavailable, and much commerce runs on cash and offshore accounts. EMM still supplies Lebanon, and we do it by agreeing payment arrangements explicitly before manufacturing starts rather than assuming a credit will open. Beirut port, severely damaged in the August 2020 explosion, handles container traffic again, with Tripoli taking a larger share than it once did.

A country that runs on its own generators

The single most distinctive feature of this market is private power. Grid supply has been reduced to a few hours a day in much of the country, and neighbourhood generator networks carry the rest. Almost everything we quote for Lebanon is quoted with its own generation, and we specify equipment that starts and runs on generator supply without nuisance tripping, tolerates wide voltage variation, and carries soft starters or inverter drives to keep inrush within what the set can deliver. Solar with battery storage has grown enormously and the demand for panels, inverters, batteries and mounting is substantial.

What is still being built

Food processing continues - olive oil, dairy and labneh, bakery, confectionery, wine, preserves, beverage filling - and much of it has shifted towards export because domestic purchasing power fell. Reconstruction in Beirut and the housing stock keeps construction materials, aluminium and glass fabrication, joinery and MEP equipment moving. Pharmaceutical and cosmetic manufacture holds up. Agriculture in the Bekaa takes irrigation, greenhouse, grading and cold chain equipment. Supply, where it reaches the site, is 220 V single phase and 380 V three phase at 50 Hz.

Tell us how you intend to pay before we discuss the machine. It is not a comfortable first question, but on this route it saves both of us a wasted month.