Riyadh: Beef price hiked in Gulf with a shortage in its supply from India during the month of Ramadan. There is a high demand for Indian beef as the Buffaloes here live on natural pastures unlike on hormones in other countries.
The Allana group, a meat processing plant in Medak district in Telangana said that it exports to Gulf had fallen significantly and estimated $US 36 million loss in a month. “We used to slaughter 3,000 cattle heads per day in our Aligarh unit which has now dropped to 200 per day, leading to the severe shortage,” a company source said.
According to a report by Telangana Today, prices of Indian beef products such as bobby veal, topside and veal leg have doubled in recent times. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Malaysia, Iraq and also Vietnam are top destinations for Indian beef where India has successfully overtaken Brazil, world market leader in beef.
Saudi Arabia had stopped Brazilian imports in April over food safety concerns after the accusation of supplying rotten and unhygienic meat. It was Brazil that dominated Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries in beef products until mad-cow disease incident in 2012.
India exported 64,649.54 tonnes of beef (buffalo) worth of US $ 216.23 million during 2015-16 to Saudi Arabia alone, it also exported beef worth of US $ 357.72 million to Egypt, another populous Arab country.
The violence due to the protection of cows has resulted in a steep fall in the beef supply. Although the beef was the meat of buffalo and not the cow. Hindu vigilantes targeted cattle traders and transporters creating the immediate negative effect.
The latest notification by government banning the sale of cattle for slaughter is proving detrimental to lucrative beef exports.