ABU DHABI // Buyers of sacrificial livestock for Eid Al Adha have been surprised at how the cost of animals has risen in the past year.
They said the cost of some has risen significantly.
Traders said the rise is because livestock cannot be imported from Iran anymore and transport costs have also increased.
Naser Boamer, an Emirati who visited the Mina Animal Market to buy sacrificial sheep, said: “The price is much too high. Last year, the price for a naeemi sheep was less than Dh2,000 and now it has gone up to Dh2,500.
“I am the trader’s oldest customer so he gave me some discount and I got this sheep at just Dh2,200 after a lot of bargaining.”
Manager Mohammed Khan said four varieties of meat were available at the market, including locally-bred naeemi and najdi sheep, Kashmiri sheep and Somali goats.
A naeemi sheep weighing more than 30 kilograms was priced at about Dh2,500 on Sunday. Last year, such an animal cost Dh1,600 to Dh1,800.
A one-year-old 14kg Somali goat sold at about Dh550. An 15kg Indian Kashmiri sheep was priced at between Dh500 and Dh550.
Mr Khan said: “Local sheep always remain in high demand for sacrifice which results in higher prices, while other varieties come later. Supply shortage of sacrificial sheep is the main reason for a rise in prices. Naeemi sheep are about Dh500 up on regular prices.
“We buy sheep from farms around Abu Dhabi and we buy at higher rates so we sell them accordingly.”
However, prices for other varieties rose only Dh50 to Dh60 per head, said Mr Khan, who has been in the livestock trading business for 19 years.
Buyers were surprised at the increase in prices. Shaawan Sofan, an Emirati, said: “I can see that nowadays naeemi and najdi local breeds are very expensive.”
Livestock traders at the market in Mina Zayed expected that prices would continue to rise until the end of Eid.
Jaziri sheep from Iran used to be the most popular breed for both sacrificial and daily consumption. Daulat Khan, of Mohammed Salem Mohammed Livestock and Sheep Trading Establishment, said: “Jaziri has not been coming to the market for more than a year, which also led to an increase in the prices of other varieties.”
But Mr Khan believed the steep increase in the price of naeemi was because it came from farms in the countryside, is of a high quality and so is preferred by Emiratis.
“The demand gets higher on Eid Al Adha,” said Mr Khan, a Pakistani who has been trading livestock for 21 years.
Kareemullah, another trader, said: “I got my lot from Liwa in the Western Region, where a naeemi cost me Dh2,000 to Dh2,100. So we sell them up to Dh2,500.”
He said transportation costs had also risen in the past year.
anwar@thenational.ae
