Izzeddin Ahmed Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — There are more than 3.2 million heads of sheep, cattle and camels currently available in all livestock markets in Saudi Arabia for residents to choose their sacrificial animal for the Eid Al-Adha. Deputy chairman of the livestock committee of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) Fahd Al-Sulami told Saudi Gazette that the pilgrims consume about one million of these animals while the citizens and expatriates consume the other 2.2 million. He said about 75 percent of the animals to be slaughtered during the Eid Al-Adha this year have been imported from outside while 25 percent of them have been raised locally by animal breeders. The Eid will start today (Tuesday) and continue for two more days. Al-Sulami praised the government subsidies to the domestic animal breeders and said this support is manifested by the reduction of the prices of barley and other animal fodders. He said a number of Saudi animal importers have established special centers to assemble the sheep imported from Sudan, Somalia and Djibouti. Al-Sulami considered the current animal price hikes to be only temporary coinciding with the Eid Al-Adha and said the increases ranged between 10-20 percent. He expected the prices to go up by about 100 percent on the Eid eve. “The prices will go back to their normal rates after the Eid,” he said. The deputy chairman said the prices of the sheep imported from Somalia and Djibouti range between SR450 and SR500 while the Sudanese sheep start at SR600 and go up to about SR900. “The locally bred Al-Nuaimi sheep are the most expensive. Their prices start at SR1,600 and go up to SR2,000,” he said. He said the rises in the animal prices have become an annual phenomenon with the Haj season every year. “The prices usually go up during the three Eid days before they return back to normal. A day after the Eid the prices will be affordable to every interested buyer,” he said. Al-Sulami noted that the Saudis prefer local animals while expatriates go for the imported sheep because of their reasonable prices. “Some Saudi families slaughter more than one sheep for their Adahi while some of them do the Adahi on behalf of their dead relatives,” he said. He said the Saudi Arabia Sacrificial Meat Project, being managed by the Islamic Development Bank, has helped stabilize prices through the provision of enough quantities of sheep for the pilgrims to use for Hadi, Adahi and Fidda. The bank sells the sacrificial coupons for pilgrims at Al-Rajihi bank all over the Kingdom especially in Makkah, Madinah and the holy sites. The price of the coupon is SR490.
