Livestock smuggling is not more than 0.1% of the country’s livestock population, says Hamid Reza Dehqaninia, the spokesman of Iran’s Headquarters for Combating the Smuggling of Commodities and Foreign Exchange.
Noting that there are between 65-70 million head of livestock in the country, the official said a total of 60,000 head of livestock were confiscated in the last fiscal year [ended March 19, 2020] and 99,000 head of livestock were confiscated during the seven-month period to Oct. 21, which indicate that the outbound smuggling of livestock is not more than 0.1%.
“As a result, outbound smuggling has no significant impact on red meat prices,” Dehqaninia said.
Echoing the same remarks, Ali Asghar Makanali, the head of Iran Veterinary Organization, said there’s no shortage of livestock in the country and the outflow of livestock from borders is insignificant.
“The upsurge in livestock production and population, depreciation of local currency, the cross-border price gap and high demand by Persian Gulf littoral states have triggered the outbound smuggling of livestock from Iran,” he was quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.
Underling the importance of exports, Makanali said a total of 1.96 million head of livestock were exported in the year ending March 2006 without having a negative effect on domestic meat prices.
Hamid Mahallei, an official with the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade, however, said he did not consider livestock export as good policy, given the effect it might have on meat prices in domestic market.
“Given the decline in people’s purchasing power, meat prices, which now hover around 1 million rials [$4] per kilogram, are high. Giving the go-ahead to exporters would definitely lead to higher prices. Furthermore, raw materials needed for this sector [livestock and poultry feed] are among imports entitled to government subsidy,” he said.
“You can’t allow the export of a product that has received cheap currency. Exports, if permitted, will definitely outweigh the current level of outbound smuggling.”
Afshin Sadr-Dadras, the managing director of the Light-Weight Livestock Agriculture Cooperatives’ Union, said confiscation statistics announced by officials are 20-30% of the actual number of livestock smuggled out of the country.
Criticizing the ban on exports, he said, “The export season was between May and September. The number of livestock has increased exponentially due to the ban on exports and producers can’t afford the additional costs of maintaining their animals.”
He noted that the domestic market does not have the potential for higher meat prices, that’s why smuggling has no effect on prices at present.
Rise in Production
A total of 37,500 tons of red meat were produced in Iran during the month ending Nov. 20 to register a 38% rise compared with the similar month of last year. The output witnessed a 5.3% month-on-month decline.
SCI's latest report shows beef accounted for 20,400 tons or 54.5% of the overall production, indicating a year-on-year increase of 44%.
Moreover, 13,300 tons of lamb (up 32% YOY), 3,000 tons of goat meat (up 36% YOY) and 801 tons of meat from other types of livestock were produced during the one-month period, accounting for 35.5%, 8% and 2% of the total output respectively, SCI reported on its website.
Coronavirus Impact
Iran’s red meat consumption has declined by 40% after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. This has inflicted the most damage on the country’s nomads and their economy, which is dependent on animal husbandry for the most part, says the caretaker of Nomadic Affairs Organization affiliated with the Agriculture Ministry.
“Limitations placed on social events and gatherings due to the pandemic have resulted in the cancellation of weddings, funerals and religious ceremonies. Most restaurants have either closed down or have very few customers and delivery requests, which has in turn reduced red meat consumption,” Shahpour Alaei-Moqaddam was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
The official noted that at present, nomadic tribes are facing an oversupply of livestock, which threatens their livelihood.
Mansour Pourian, the head of Iran’s Livestock Exporters National Assembly, told Tasnim News Agency in April that restaurants, hotels and ceremony halls have the biggest share in red meat consumption in Iran.
In June, the former head of Nomadic Affairs Organization, Karamali Qandali, said red meat production by nomads in Iran is estimated to increase by 15-20% in the current Iranian year (March 2020-21), compared with last year amid high precipitation that led to the bountiful growth of grass in meadows.
“At present, nomads own more than 9.5 million head of livestock and produce 190,000 tons of red meat per year, which meet 25% of domestic demand,” he said.
There are 213,000 nomadic households in Iran, which account for 1.2 million of Iran’s total population.
Nomadic production of red meat accounts for about a quarter of Iran’s total output.
