The Ministry of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction has published a report that analyzed the inflation rate in Uzbekistan in September.

In particular, the department named the main reasons for the rise in prices for meat in the country:

•     seasonal decrease in the remains of raw materials for the fodder base (cotton meal, husks and feed mixture). This, in turn, led to an increase in their stock prices by 17%, 21% and 27%, respectively;

•     reduction in imports of cattle due to export restrictions on the part of Kazakhstan. So, in January-September of this year, only 25 thousand heads of cattle and 12.5 thousand heads of small horned livestock were imported. For comparison: in 2019, 146 thousand heads and 258 thousand heads were imported into the republic, respectively;
•     after the relaxation of quarantine since mid-August, the activity of catering enterprises has revived and the demand for meat has sharply increased.

Meanwhile, in January-June 2020, 1.14 million tons of meat were produced in Uzbekistan (an increase of 1.1% compared to January-June 2019).

"The world market conditions for meat according to the FAO index in September fell by an average of 7.4%, slightly decreasing (by 0.9%) compared to August, continuing the general downward trend observed since January this year. In annual terms, the index decreased by 9.5% compared to its value in the corresponding month of last year (9.4%), while mutton prices fell against the backdrop of high seasonal supplies from Australia, "the Ministry of Economic Development said.

On the other hand, poultry prices, supported by strong international sales and limited exports from Brazil, rose.

The cost of cattle meat remained stable, as the rise in quotations for Brazilian products was almost offset by the decline in prices for Australian products. Basically, this reflected the basic import demand conditions that all markets face.

The department emphasized that the increase in prices for meat products was influenced not by external factors, but by internal ones. Thus, the experts pointed to the weak internal price regulation.

This, meanwhile, is due to the underdevelopment of the fodder base to ensure an adequate level of supply of meat products, despite a modest increase in the level of production, the Ministry of Economic Development concluded.

Source: Sputnik Uzbekistan