DOHA, 9 April 2007 — A ban on Saudi chicken and poultry products has affected the Qatari market with prices of fresh chicken in both the wholesale and retail markets going up.
However, there is no increase in the prices of frozen chicken so far, though sellers do not rule out the possibility of a price rise in the coming weeks if the ban stays.
The price of imported fresh chicken, which was available at 12 riyals until a week ago, shot up to 17 riyals yesterday at some Doha shops yesterday.
Many brands of fresh chicken and eggs, including Saudi Arabia’s popular Al-Wataniya brand, have been banned for over a week. Most of these products have now been taken off the shelf.
The National Health Authority (NHA) has banned the import of chicken and other poultry products from Saudi Arabia after the deadly bird flu virus was detected in the Kingdom. However, the NHA ruled out the closing of live chicken outlets as a precautionary measure against a possible outbreak of the dreaded disease.
“No cases of bird flu have been detected, so there is no reason for panic and the ordering of the closure of shops that sell live or slaughtered chicken,” an official from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture said.
Recalling that the UAE recently closed down all the outlets that were selling live and slaughtered chicken, the official added, “In Qatar, we don’t feel there is a need to follow suit.”
Stall owners rule out a major shortage of fresh chicken due to the availability of local varieties. One stall owner said a small fluctuation in the international market would naturally have an impact on the local market.
Over the past four to five months, the price of chicken and other poultry products have significantly gone up in the international market for various reasons.
There has been an increase of about $100 to $200 per ton of all major brands of frozen chicken. This has been attributed mainly to a sudden increase in demand. As elsewhere in the world, the bird flu scare last year badly affected the sale of chicken and other poultry products in Qatar.
