Sudan turmoil threatens KSA’s livestock supply

Economic experts have said that the political turmoil in Sudan may contribute to an 80 percent increase in livestock prices in the local market.
Demand for sheep will also increase with the celebration of Eid Al-Adha.
The local livestock market is expected to face a crisis of supply since many traders cannot import livestock from Syria.
The Kingdom imports around 40 percent of its livestock from Sudan.
Saudi Arabia has already imported 2 million livestock from Sudan and Somalia to cater for the current Haj season.
Fadal Abu Ainain, an economist, told Arab News: “Livestock prices increased by 30 percent after many local traders stopped importing livestock from war-torn Syria. The political turmoil in Sudan will have a negative impact on livestock export to the Kingdom.”
“The Kingdom should look for new markets to import livestock to avoid a shortage, which will push up the price of meat,” he said.
Sulaiman Al-Jabri, chairman of the Livestock Committee at the Jeddah Chamber for Commerce and Industry (JCCI), told local media: “The Kingdom imported 2 million livestock for this Haj season. We expect sheep prices not to exceed SR900 depending on the type of sheep.”
“The political crisis in Sudan won’t have a negative impact on local livestock prices. The Saudi government has facilitated procedures to import livestock from new markets. The local market imports 75 percent of livestock from abroad,” he added.
Sudan’s livestock exports earned around $408 million by the end of November, up more than 20 percent from last year’s total.
Sudan has been faced with economic crisis since South Sudan, which had accounted for about three-quarters of oil production, became independent last year under a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war.