KARACHI: After hours of searching through Karachi’s sprawling Northern Bypass Cattle Market, Muhammad Hammad walked out of one of its premium sections visibly frustrated by the prices of sacrificial animals on display.
The 28-year-old field officer eventually found relief only after entering the market’s “General Block,” a lower-cost section where traders say animals are being sold for substantially less ahead of Eid Al-Adha, one of the most important festivals in the Islamic calendar.
“We are coming from the Sapphire Block, and the rates there are extremely high,” Hammad told Arab News while bargaining with a trader.
Every year before Eid Al-Adha, millions of Pakistanis buy goats, cows, bulls and camels for ritual sacrifice. The days leading up to the festival transform large cities into temporary livestock trading hubs, with Karachi’s Northern Bypass market among the biggest in South Asia. Market administrators say it currently hosts between 170,000 and 180,000 animals, including goats, cows and camels.
But this year, Pakistan’s economic pressures are reshaping buying patterns.
After months of easing inflation, Pakistan’s consumer price index rose 10.9 percent in April, returning to double digits for the first time in nearly two years as higher fuel and commodity prices squeezed household budgets already strained by years of economic instability and rising living costs.
At Karachi’s cattle market, the divide between affluent and middle-income buyers has become increasingly visible.
Unlike the market’s 11 premium enclosures where traders pay high plot rents and additional charges for electricity, lighting and tents, the General Block offers free plots, water and electricity to mostly small-scale farmers arriving from outside Karachi. Traders say the lower operating costs allow them to sell animals at significantly cheaper rates.
For buyers like Hammad, that difference can determine whether an Eid sacrifice is financially possible.
“I have asked two or three traders from General Block. The rates in the General Block are very low compared to Sapphire Block,” Hammad said.
“Approximately, the rates are Rs25,000 to Rs30,000 ($90-$108) lower here.”
He estimated that an animal selling for around Rs130,000 ($467) in Sapphire Block could often be purchased for nearly Rs100,000 ($359) in the General Block.
But when here, many buyers say prices remain difficult to afford.
Hammad said he was still searching for the right animal and remained hopeful he could find one within his expanded budget of Rs250,000 ($897) before Eid.
Still, as Eid approaches, the lower-cost sections have become increasingly crowded with buyers searching for affordable options.
Yaseen Muhammad, a 30-year-old grocery wholesaler, said he spent hours moving across different sections of the market before finally purchasing a bull weighing around 280 kilograms for Rs390,000 ($1,400).
“We searched the market a lot,” he told Arab News.
“This brother [ultimately] cooperated with us. He gave it to us for Rs390,000.”
Muhammad said traders in premium sections were demanding as much as Rs700,000 ($2,513) for similar animals, while sellers in the General Block were asking closer to Rs550,000 ($1,974).
Traders say the pricing gap largely reflects operating costs.
Muhammad Rizwan, a 35-year-old trader from Rahim Yar Khan in Punjab province, said authorities had incentivized sellers in the General Block by waiving plot rents and utility charges.
“The plot here is free, and we don’t have to pay for it,” Rizwan said.
“That’s why we chose General Block, so that our expenses on animals could be reduced.”
The lower prices, he said, have also translated into heavier footfall.
“Compared to other blocks, there is a lot of rush in General Block 1, 2 and 3,” Rizwan said.
“In other blocks if the number of buyers is 20 percent, here there are more than 80 percent buyers.”
Mukhtiyar Hussain, a trader from Khairpur in Sindh province, said sales in the General Block had remained strong despite broader economic pressures.
“We brought 13 animals,” the 42-year-old said.
“Now, five of them have already been sold.”
Yet while middle-income buyers crowd budget sections, Karachi’s premium enclosures continue to attract affluent customers willing to spend heavily on larger and more decorative animals.
At Afridi Cattle Farm, one of the market’s upscale sections, traders displayed massive bulls adorned with colorful accessories and decorative coverings.
“We have brought nearly 200 plus animals. We still have one week to go in which we have almost 80 animals … to sell,” said Irfan Ahmed, the owner of Afridi Cattle Farm.
“We have a price range that starts from about Rs500,000 ($1,795) onward ... We have brought beautiful and heavy animals worth Rs4-5 million ($14,359-$17,949) which we have sold.”
Market administrators say the coexistence of budget and luxury sections reflects the broad range of buyers visiting Karachi’s cattle market every year.
“There is a general category of blocks where the place is free, water is free, electricity is free,” said Furqan Cheepa, spokesperson for the Northern Bypass Cattle Market.
