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Northern Africa and the Middle
East is a region importing meat due to its low
production of beef. Most Arab countries are not big
consumers of beef and sheep meat itself.
Some countries like Egypt and Iran acquire frozen meat
mainly low value and price of the European Union to meet
growing consumer demand for meat that does not have
great purchasing power.
However, the Gulf countries require high quality meat (about
20-25000 tons of chilled meat with and without bone) to
the catering sector and supermarkets.
Other major importing countries are Algeria, Jordan,
Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and UAE. 80% is supplied by the EU,
the rest by India (buffalo meat) and South America (mainly
Israel). It is estimated that demand for meat in this
region will increase but it depends heavily on income
growth and population growth.
To give some reference, the prices paid in the Middle
East for chilled boneless cuts from the hindquarter
averaging U $ S 3500-4000 per tonne CIF. For frozen
boneless cuts, the average price is only U $ S 1500-2000
per tonne. |
