ABU DHABI // The price of animals being sold for slaughter during the Eid Al Fitr celebrations will not be increased, livestock traders in the capital have said.
However, with Eid expected to fall on Sunday visitors to the bustling Mina Animal Market were not convinced by the traders’ claims.
“I think prices of animals at the market have gone up by Dh50 per head. That may jump up by Dh100 on Eid,” said Ahmed Hassan.
The Omani was looking to buy a lamb but was not happy with the quality or price of the animals for sale.
“The lambs and sheep available in the market are not of good breeds. The meat doesn’t taste good,” Mr Hassan said, adding that Kashmiri sheep from India and lambs bred in Ras Al Khaimah are most popular at this time of year.
“Today I bought a small, 8kg Najdi lamb for Dh600,” he said. “I would say the price of animals is OK currently but the quality of animals is not good. People love Iranian Jaziri lambs but they are not coming to UAE markets for years now.”
Market traders said a price rise of up to Dh50 is generally considered part of the bargaining process and not a real increase, especially at Eid.
“Dh10-Dh20 is bargained. We don’t consider it an increase of price. It’s nothing,” said Daulat Khan from Mohammed Salem Mohammed Livestock.
“The prices are not high nowadays. A Kashmiri lamb is sold at Dh500 for 17kg, Indian lamb is priced at Dh550 for 12kg and Indian sheep is traded between Dh500 and Dh550 for 17kg-18kg.
“But there is no shortage in the market. The market is going to remain the same during the Eid. There may be a slight rise of Dh10 to Dh20 per head on the day of Eid day,” said Mr Khan.
Locally bred Naeemi and Najdi sheep are being sold for between Dh800 and Dh900 for 17kg and 18kg.
“This is a little higher because it comes from locals markets and loved by the local people,” said Mr Khan.
Saif Al Malouk, a Pakistani who works for Florida Trading Establishment, said customers generally don’t like Indian sheep but buy them when nothing else is available.
“Smaller Kashmiri sheep can be bought at Dh400 and Dh450 for 14kg,” he said adding that no more Indian lambs are expected to be shipped to the UAE due to hot weather.
“They stopped from June 5 and will begin after three months when cooler days come back,” said Mr Al Malouk.
A lack of popular Somali goats and sheep at the market as well as the popular Jaziri lambs was also a cause for complaint by customers.
Municipality slaughterhouses in the capital processed more than 25,000 carcasses during the first week of Ramadan.
anwar@thenational.ae