May 8 (KUNA) -- Kuwait is looking for new sources for imports of sheep to make up for shortage of the cattle imports from Australia, the country's long-time main exporter of this meat , traditionally very much favored by many of the natives of the Arab Gulf country.
Board Chairman of the Livestock Transport Trading Co. (KSC) Badr Suleiman Al-Jarallah said in remarks to KUNA on Saturday that a delegation of the national company has recently visited the Uruguay for examining prospects of importing sheep from this country.
Another team is due to visit, next week, Mongolia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, whose livestock is well known for high quality.
Current arrangements are being made to discuss with South Africa and neighboring countries, namely Namibia, Swaziland and Botswana for the importation of sheep -- for these countries have a surplus of the livestock.
The world sheep market at present sustains drastic drop of supplies due to climatic conditions, desertification and draught, said Al-Jarallah. These extraordinary conditions have damaged large amounts of agricultural crops in Australia, China, the Argentines and India. Moreover, these conditions have negatively affected the livestock supplies and resulted in hiking prices of the meat.
Regional exporters of sheep, namely Syria, Iran and Turkey, in light of these conditions, have abstained from exporting sheep, thus aggravating the problem, Al-Jarallah added Elaborating in the exclusive remarks to the national news agency, Al-Jarallah said the company imports daily 140,000-170,000 heads of sheep from Australia for the domestic market and some markets of regional states.
The company sought, over the past years, to cut the demand for the livestock and guide the consumers toward consumption of frozen meat, said the chairman of the company. However, the depleting supplies of livestock and rise of their prices on the international markets led to negative effects on the frozen meat business as well, where the price of a head climbed from KD 23 to KD 31, thus the company incurred heavy losses, in light with its commitment to the KD 22.5 per head price.
Nevertheless, the company remains committed to securing new sources of sheep imports, for it usually secures up to 80 percent of the domestic needs for meat, added the board chairman of the national company. Underscoring significance of the issue, he also indicated that the fasting month of Ramadan would fall in three months time -- during which many families depend on meat for cooking fast-break meals.
He indicated that past bids to make up for the shortage of the imports of Australian sheep by importing sheep from the China-controlled part of Mongolia and Sudan proved largely fruitless. But he pledged to spare no effort in the attempts to find new, reliable import sources.
Sheep meat is very much favored for main meals by many people in the Arab world, particularly in Kuwait and the other countries of the Arab Peninsula. - Kuna