Algeria: Price meat hikes and possible milk crisis expected during holy month of Ramadhan

The national federation of traders and craftsman is expecting a steady rise in the prices of white and red meat during the upcoming holy month of fasting of Ramadhan in Algeria.

The spokesman of the federation  Tahar Boulenouar discounted the recent statement made by the agriculture and rural development minister Rachid Benaissa saying that the price of a kilogram of poultry meat would not exceed 230 dinars during the first week of Ramadhan.

Mr Boulenouar told Echorouk that according to market fluctuations and predictions, the price of poultry meat would instead reach 350 dinars in the first week of the holy month and is liable to increase further by mid Ramadhan.

He added that the hike would not concern the price of red meat as the latter has been stable throughout the year by reaching around 1.350 dinars a kilogram but a slight price increase is not to be ruled out.

Mr Boulenouar indicated that these price hikes were the result of the wide gap existing between supply and demand on the Algerian market.

The overall output of poultry meat does not exceed 250 thousand tonnes annually while the demand for this product is not less than 400 thousand per year, he explained.

On the other hand, he affirmed that the national demand for red meat reached about 600 thousand tonnes per year while the global national production was as low as 350 thousand tonnes annually.

Concerning imported frozen meat, Mr Tahar Boulenouar noted that the average price of this much-consumed product at the national level would range between 450 and 500 dinars per kilogram in the course of the forthcoming month of Ramadhan.

A significant hike in the prices of fruits and vegetables is also foreseen on the national market during Ramadhan in addition to some disruptions in the supply and distribution of milk in some regions of the country, according to the federation’s predictions based on investigative assessment reports