Animal prices soar in Riyadh

The atmosphere in the Saudi capital was festive on Monday with people making hectic preparations to celebrate Eid Al-Adha with their families, close relatives and friends.
“People have been thronging various sheep markets in the city looking for sacrificial animals that suit their pockets best,” said Mahmoud Al-Khallaf, a 47-year-old Syrian sheep trader in Al-Azizia district.
With last minute demand for sheep, prices have been on an upswing, jumping from SR650 a week ago to SR1,750 per head on Monday night.
“After paying overhead costs and my five-member staff, I make about SR10,000 per day. It could have been more but there are many other traders in this market who are offering different sheep breeds at lower rates,” said Al-Khallaf.
Al-Khallaf, who has been in the business for 25 years, said the Naimi breed was the most popular and fast-moving among customers, some of whom buy as many as ten heads for SR17,500. “Even if the price for Naimi breed from Syria is high, customers prefer it because of its meat which they describe as the best among other varieties like Sawakni from Sudan, Barbari from Somalia and Erfedi from Saudi Arabia,” he said, adding that the price is expected to drop after the first day of Eid Al-Adha on Tuesday, and fall further on the second and third day.
“The number of customers would have declined because most would have bought what they needed for the three-day celebration. As a result, traders will settle for lower prices just to cover overhead costs and have a little margin,” he said.
The breed most in demand after Naimi is the Sawakni variety from Sudan which starts from SR650 and goes up to SR1,000 per head. “The other varieties include Barbari from Somalia and Erfedi from Saudi Arabia,” said Al-Khallaf who has about 500 heads of sheep for sale.
The other markets for sheep and goats are in Ateigah, Batha, Roma, Wadi Hanifa and Wadi Laban districts.
Basil Abdullah, a customer, bought 15 heads of the Sawakni breed for SR12,000 from Al-Azizia sheep market. “The 15 heads will be for my 16-member family and friends. The sheep will be slaughtered in an area that we rent outside Riyadh for SR5,500 for three days to celebrate the occasion,” he said.
He said many families reserve these areas in advance as celebrating Eid Al-Adha outside home has become a common trend among Saudi nationals and other Muslims of different nationalities.
He said that they will slaughter five sheep starting Tuesday, another five on Wednesday and the remaining five on Thursday.
However, customers in other markets had difficulty buying sheep because of price fluctuations, and demanded a regulatory body to be set up to determine the prices of sheep and goat.
The slaughtering of sheep to mark Eid Al-Adha is in commemoration of the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim, peace be upon him, to sacrifice his son Ismail to show his obedience to the Almighty.
The Almighty ordered Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son but changed the order in the last minute to a cattle instead, and the tradition of sacrificing an animal during the Eid commemorates it.