DOHA: Saudi Arabia’s decision to ban the export of fresh as well as frozen chicken is unlikely to push the prices of white meat up in Qatar, say market sources.
Qatar’s largest poultry firm, Qatar-Arabian Poultry Company, told The Peninsula yesterday they were meeting at least 90 percent of local requirements for fresh chicken.
“And the remaining 10 percent market need is being met by smaller local poultry firms,” sales director of the company, Mohamed Al Dassooghi, said. “So there are no shortages.”
The company, he said, slaughters between 22,000 and 23,000 chickens every day, much of which are supplied to retail outlets for sale while the remaining meat is retained by the company to build frozen stocks for later sale.
As for live birds, Al Dassooghi said his firm supplies an estimated between 3,000 and 3,500 chicken heads to outlets that slaughter chicken and sell fresh meat.
According to market sources, Saudi exporters might have stopped exporting both fresh and frozen chicken as well as eggs as producers receive subsidies by the government.
“I think Saudi Arabia has banned poultry products because the producers are receiving a lot of support from the government in the form of several subsidies like cheap fodder and free medical services, etc,” said a market source.
However, an official of an outlet said they have yet to receive any official notification from the Saudi poultry products exporters about the much-talked-about ban. The ban doesn’t apply to exports to Qatar alone.
Market sources point out that the demand for frozen chicken is much more in the Qatari market as compared to fresh chicken due to price differences. In terms of ratio, the demand for frozen chicken could be 85 percent and that for fresh one barely 15 percent, said a market source.
Al Dassooghi agreed and said that while frozen chicken is available for up to QR6 to QR7 a kg, fresh chicken prices are almost three times — at QR17 per piece.
Enquiries with the market, though, revealed that fresh chicken prices have soared marginally to QR18 per piece, while some outlets were even selling it for QR20 a piece.
Al Dassooghi said that frozen chicken prices were unlikely to be affected much by the Saudi export ban since large stocks were coming in from other countries as well, including from Brazil, Oman and the UAE.
“The Saudi move might affect the prices of frozen chicken only marginally,” he insisted. As for fresh chicken, the rates are unlikely to be impacted.
Market sources said that fresh chicken from Saudi Arabia was much preferred in the local market because of its weight. While Saudi chicken weighed much more than a kg, Qatar’s fresh chicken always weighs less than a kg, said a market source.
The Peninsula
