Red meat prices have skyrocketed in different butcher shops in Morocco. At the wholesale market in Casablanca, the prices of red meat climbed, on January 20, to 80 DH/kg for veal and 90 DH/kg for lamb, while retail prices vary between 90 and 110 DH /kg for veal and between 100 and 120 DH/kg for mutton.
Faced with public discontent over the rise in red meat prices, professionals have reacted and are also complaining about this soaring price, which they justify by the scarcity of the product on the national market and the high fees imposed imports, calling for the opening of real channels of dialogue before the arrival of the month of Ramadan and Eid Al-Adha in order to remedy the shortage and allow customers to obtain meat at reasonable.
Reacting to this rise in prices, Hicham Jouabri, regional secretary of red meat wholesalers in Casablanca, said that “the situation of the red meat market has become worrying, especially as we approach the month of Ramadan, known as the peak of meat demand.
He thus considered that the measures taken by the government to save the market are late and have, so far, no effect on the soaring prices in the wholesale and retail markets.
Thus, professionals associate this soaring price with the damage suffered by breeders during the period of ” boycott “, and to the fact that many of them have been forced to slaughter cows due to the low demand for milk and the accumulation of losses for several weeks indicating that to get out of the current situation, it would be necessary to open up more to the external market.
For his part, Abdelali Ramo, president of the National Association of Red Meat Sellers in Morocco, stressed that those responsible for the sector refuse to open real channels of dialogue with professionals to find solutions to the accumulated problems, stressing that solutions to rising prices start with making it easier to import meat from abroad.
In a statement to MoroccoLatestNewsRamo said that the authorities are required to abolish the value added tax (VAT) for beef and sheep meat in order to restore a certain balance in the market, pointing out that Morocco does not currently have self-sufficiency in terms of Red meat.
The associative actor also drew attention to the fact that what aggravates the current situation is the spread of the disease of ” stag “ in the Spanish herd, but it is possible to remedy this, he stressed, calling for ” open a serious dialogue to find solutions, especially as the month of Ramadan and Eid al-Adha is approaching noting that ” if this situation persists, we will reach its two sensitive periods with prices much more expensive than today “.
” The problem dates back to the dairy boycott period. After the farmers couldn’t find anyone to buy milk, they were forced to slaughter the cows. So far, the sector has not been able to compensate, due to the huge losses that exceed 60% of the national product “, he concluded.