“Rising Meat Prices in Egypt during Ramadan 2023: Causes and Consequences”

03:00 PM

Tuesday 09 May 2023

I wrote – Dina Khaled:

Haitham Abdel Basset, deputy head of the butchers division at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce, said that the prices of red meat have witnessed successive and significant increases since the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan until now, as the value of the increase ranges between 60 and 80 pounds per kilo.

Abdel Basset added, to Masrawy, that the price of a kilo of kandouz currently ranges between 360 and 400 pounds, compared to between 300 and 320 pounds before Ramadan, according to the district and in different popular and high-end areas.

He pointed out that the prices of the luxury items, namely the fileto, entrecote, cola, buffet, and tribianco, start from 380 pounds and reach 400 pounds in supermarkets and high-end areas.

Abdel Basset attributed the reason behind the rise in meat prices to the increase in fodder prices and the lack of supply of livestock, and the rise in existing prices to 145 pounds, compared to 120 pounds a month ago.

Feed prices jumped in the markets during the past year as a result of the accumulation of large quantities of it in the ports (before resolving the crisis of stockpiling goods in general at the end of last January), which created a crisis in the poultry and livestock system, given the dependence of the two systems in breeding on the quantities of feed for nutrition.

The Central Bank had issued a decision during the month of February 2022, to stop dealing with collection documents in all import operations and to use documentary credits instead, before returning to cancel this decision at the end of last year.

Importers and manufacturers suffered during the last period from a crisis of lack of production requirements due to the delay in opening documentary credits, and the slowness in managing currency by banks, according to importers and manufacturers who spoke earlier to Masrawy, but Dr. Mostafa Madbouly announced last January that the problem of stockpiling goods had ended and conditions had returned. in ports as normal.

Abdel Basset said that the meat market is witnessing a state of stagnation and calm in the buying and selling movement, which prompted some merchants to extend the Eid holiday so far due to stagnation and loss as a result of the inability to raise prices because it will lead to lower demand.