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More than one million sheep will arrive in the Kingdom soon to meet demand and control prices.

Meat prices will stay stable and will not increase during Ramadan, according to Suleiman bin Said Al-Jabri, chairman of the livestock traders committee at Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI).

He stated that the committee had a deal to bring more than one million sheep that will arrive in the Kingdom in the coming days and will strike the required balance between demand and supply and contribute toward stability of the market.

Al-Jabri assured that the there are no expectations of higher prices in the market, though people always in the beginning of the season suspect that the prices will increase. However, to beat the prices, a large number of livestock is being imported, which will continue throughout the year.

He stressed that the meat “prices are where as they were last year,” and they have so far not risen. Sometimes during the season, prices of the local livestock go up by 10 percent, which happens in all the countries worldwide. “Still the prices of the meat in the Kingdom are less in comparison to the neighboring Gulf countries,” he said.

He said price stability is vital and important for the government in order to protect the interests of citizens as well as residents, more so at a time when importers and traders are keen to mark-up the prices during the season. The government is always keen to keep them stable.

However, as the consumption of camel meat has stopped, with warnings issued by the concerned authorities, the prices of other type of livestock will slightly increase, but any rise in the prices will be within reasonable limits and will not cause any additional burden on the citizens, he said.

He said that they signed an agreement with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) for the supply of 400,000 sheep for Haj Meat Project which will be used to aid the developing countries with the slaughtered meat.

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