Afshin Sadr-Dadras, CEO of the Light Livestock Union, pointed out the significant reduction in red meat imports this year compared to the same period last year, emphasizing that these changes could provide a suitable opportunity to strengthen the supply of domestic meat. He stated: "Considering the fluctuations in exchange rates, the price of imported meat is not much different from domestic meat; moreover, the quality of imported meats does not match that of first-class domestic production."
New Prices in the Meat Market
Sadr-Dadras continued that the price of lamb is higher than that of imported meat, but sheep and ewe meat are offered at a lower price compared to imported meat. He pointed out the important issue that due to insufficient market oversight, in some cases, ewe meat is sold at the price of ram meat, which is not in favor of consumers.
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Market Challenges and Solutions
The CEO of the Light Livestock Union noted: "The reduction in red meat imports has not yet created a significant change in the market." He added that due to the decrease in household purchasing power, in some cases, there is an accumulation of livestock in production units, and the slaughter statistics have also decreased compared to last year. Sadr-Dadras emphasized that the reduction in livestock slaughter does not necessarily mean a decrease in the livestock population of the country; rather, a significant part of this trend is due to the drop in household purchasing power and reduced demand in the market.
He stressed that domestic production is sufficient to meet the market demand for red meat, stating: "With effective oversight by the relevant authorities on the manner of supply and pricing, ewe and sheep meat can be offered as a substitute for imported meats in the market; therefore, under current conditions, there is no need for red meat imports."
Sadr-Dadras further announced the price of each kilogram of live livestock to be between 730,000 to 735,000 tomans and said: "The price of each kilogram of red meat carcass in the slaughterhouse is also between 1,500,000 to 1,600,000 tomans."
Finally, he listed the removal of production barriers, reduction of overhead costs imposed on the production sector, and increasing household purchasing power as some of the most important solutions for regulating the red meat market, adding: "Support for domestic production along with oversight of the supply chain and aligning prices with consumers' purchasing power can help improve the conditions of the red meat market."
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