Influx of cattle to Saudi Arabia
Large numbers of livestock are being shipped to Saudi Arabia ahead of one of the biggest Muslim festivals, Eid Azha, which will fall on December 8. Approximately 1.15 million cattle from Australia, Somalia and Sudan are scheduled to arrive at Jeddah Islamic Port in the next few days.
The import breakdown states that Somalia will export 800,000 cattle, while 100,000 will come from Australia and 250,000 will be sent from Sudan to fulfil sacrificial requirements at the festival.
"We brought a large number of cattle from Australia, Sudan and Somalia, but the number will not be enough to cover the Haj season," said Sulaiman Saeed Al-Jaberi, owner of Al-Jaberi Association, a major supplier of sacrificial cattle. The company has ordered a record number of cattle in order to avoid a repeat of last year’s shortage, but it may still not be enough.
He added that there were complaints about high prices during last year’s festival. Prices for this Haj season will range from SR500 ($133) and SR700 for cattle from Sudan, SR450 to SR500 for Australian cattle and SR330 for cattle from Somalia.
