Serbia's meat market is collapsing
Meat has become a cheap product in Serbia, as the coronavirus crisis, followed by the closure of the foodservice sector and meat product export has been suspended. At this time, pork is 10% to 155 cheaper than a year ago, beef prices have declined by 33% to 40% and poultry products price has dropped also. In an interview for Beta news agency, the co-owner of Matijevic meat company, Zoran Matijevic, mentions that the biggest demand for meat is usually in summer, which is why prices are rising, but now the market is saturated due to the decline in export and an insufficient number of domestic and foreign tourists.
“There is no one to sell meat to in the domestic market, the supply is overflowing because there are no exports, prices have fallen and producers are in trouble,” said Matijevic. Regarding exports, Serbia didn't manage to ship the amount of 5,000 tonnes of beef in Turkey, despite an agreement signed in 2018, and shipments of pork products Bosnia and Herzegovina is difficult after the ban because of the African swine flu.
Even livestock exporters are impacted by the restrictions, with markets such as Turkey, Italy or China closed since March. "We were exporting 100 bulls a day or 500 a week before the pandemic, while now we have 5,000 bulls ready to sell, but there is no buyer," said Milenko Durdevic, owner of a Serbian slaughterhouse.
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