While Sococvia has put forward Rs 174 as the price per kilo of beef, the government believes that Rs 163.50 is a more accurate price according to its calculations. The price of cattle for the Eid-ul-Adha holiday has not yet been fixed. The Commerce Minister has announced that he will recalculate the variables presented by Socovia on this difference of 10.50 on the kilo of beef on the hoof.
This was the outcome of a meeting held this afternoon between the Ministry of Commerce and representatives of Socovia. Minister Soodesh Callichurn announced that he found the price too high but also It is unfortunate to have only one importer for Eid-ul-Adha. We had to set the prices today. We will analyse the variables they have given us. Namely, for the year 2021 they were two importers including Socovia Belle Vue Ltd and Neel-Agro Ltd and the price of meat per kilo was at Rs 151.50 compared to 2020 at Rs 136.50.
The Minister took the opportunity to remind that “Anyone who wants to import livestock can. Importing livestock is a free market. Last year’s importer had problems.”
On the fixing of cattle prices per kilo at each approach of the Eid-ul-Adha festival instead of the normal price, the minister explained that “in the past, at the approach of Eid-ul-Adha, importers increased their prices considerably and this greatly affected all consumers. This had to be reviewed.
Soodesh Callichurn explained that the Mauritius Meat Authority is there to regulate but also to import livestock. “We need to have more competition in order to have a decrease in prices,” he concluded. Discussions will continue in the near future.
