The sales of sheep at Al Wakra Livestock Market have risen by almost 40% compared to the previous period and salesmen expect more sales during the first day of Eid al-Adha.
Speaking to local Arabic daily Arrayah, sheep retailers at the market stressed that the demand is high, especially for the local and Syrian sheep as these are preferred by most Qataris. However, they pointed out that the prices this season are very high compared to the previous season. For instance the Syrian sheep weighing around 40-45kg ranges from QR1,600 to QR2,500, Jordanian QR1,500- 1,800, Turkish QR1,500-1,700, Iranian QR1,300- QR1,500 and Romanian QR1,350- 1,500.
The sellers pointed out that the prices are high from the supplier itself due to the high cost of production, with a rise of QR200-300 on average for each head while the retailers claim that their profit does not exceed QR100 per head.
Meanwhile, the barns that sell the subsidised sheep at Abu Nakhla Area received a good turnout of Qatari customers. The initiative launched by the Ministry of Commerce Industry in cooperation with Widam Food Company. The yard receives customers from 5am to 5pm daily until the fourth day of Eid holidays.
Mubarak Abu Hanadi, sheep seller, expected that the sales of sheep will increase considerably during the first days of Eid holidays. He said that the retail prices of the various types of sheep are almost the same at the different selling point and if there is any variation it would be negligible.
Ahmed al-Ameri, sheep trader, stressed that many Qataris would certainly buy more than one sheep during the first day of Eid as most of them would not limit themselves to the subsidised sheep. He said that the supply in the local market is considerably high this year.
Hamdoun Mohamed, also a sheep seller, said that some customers prefer to buy sheep and keep at the seller's barn until the slaughter day to avoid the trouble of taking care of it at home and most sellers provide this service.
