Beef prices up after ISIS cafe attack
At least 22 people were killed in a massacre at Holey Artisan Bakery in the capital’s upmarket Gulshan neighbourhood on 1 July.
The attack caused India to seal its border, throttling cattle supplies to Bangladesh at the time of maximum demand during the end of Ramadan, traders have said.
Per kilogramme, beef was selling at USD5.73 on Tuesday, up from USD5.35 the Dhaka city authorities had fixed for Ramadan, the Muslims’ month of fasting.
Livestock price up
“Beef prices rose as supplies of cattle dropped. India closed its border after Gulshan event,” Robiul Alam, secretary general of the Bangladesh Meat Traders Association, told GlobalMeatNews.
As consequence, he noted beef livestock prices climbed from USD127 to USD153.
Meat traders said the demand for beef livestock usually increased 5% more during Ramadan than normal. Nationwide, roughly 110,000-120,000 cows are slaughtered during this holy month.
‘Difficult to sell’
Alam estimated that three-quarters of the demand during Ramadan come from restaurants, with the rest coming from households and general consumers.
He said 40,000 cattle heads were slaughtered in Dhaka on Monday and Tuesday to meet the demand for Eid-ul-Fitr festival to be celebrated on Thursday.
Price escalation has also had an impact on Dhaka’s retail sales.
“Even the government-fixed rate is higher. It’s now difficult to sell the meat from a medium-sized cow in a day,” Mohammad Sirajul Islam, an employee of Jannat Meat Shop, at Kalabagan, Dhaka, told GlobalMeatNews.
