Pork, which is mostly eaten in Serbia, has risen in price by about 20 percent since January. Experts emphasize that Serbia imports up to 50,000 tons of pork a year. According to analysts, the time will come when the supply of meat will be reduced, which, according to the law of supply and demand, leads to an increase in price.
During the first half of the year, pork became noticeably more expensive. Citizens say that, because of that, they buy it less, N1 reports.
When asked how they cope with rising meat prices, the citizens we spoke to said:
“By no means”.
“Hard, but still used.”
“I cut it down and that’s it.”
“As they say, ‘we’re getting better and better,’ and we’re getting worse and worse.”
The data show that in the territory of Belgrade, the price of pork from 3.5 euros, as it was in January, increased to 4.2 euros, in July. In January, the price of pork in Vranje was the cheapest – 2.8 euros, while with slight oscillations in July it increased by 20 cents.
Agro-economic analyst Milan Prostran emphasizes that Serbia has exceptional pork producers in Srem. He says that a price increase of 10 or 20 percent, consumers will probably be able to bear, and that it will help producers a lot.
“So, I do not intend to calm down any situation, but I am trying to say that this sector of animal husbandry in Serbia has been in a great crisis for a long time. And together, as consumers, we would have to pay a slightly higher price to support it in the end and save our own producers,” said Milan Prostran, an agricultural expert and agro-economic analyst.
According to experts, the main reasons for the increase in meat prices are:
– the African plague, which reduced Serbia’s exports to the Russian Federation
– increase in the price of fodder – corn and soybean meal have had extremely high prices for six or seven months
– increased price of live pigs – in the meantime, the state intervened by buying pigs at a higher price than the market price
– different prices by districts, and it pays for some to engage in livestock production, and some not
Analyzes of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce since the beginning of the year indicate that there has been a reduction in pork imports by about 30 percent.
“However, we have an increase in imports of finished products, especially durable finished products by some 31 percent. This is again not good, because the final product is practically the goal to make and sell. And what we do, we can’t sell. And that is what is negative for our producers,” emphasizes Nenad Budimovic, Secretary of the Association for Livestock and Processing of Livestock Products of the Chamber of Commerce.
The trade margin also participates in the formation of the price of meat, which is always the same in percentage, regardless of the purchase price. Experts state that traders, as a rule, feel the pulse of consumers and as soon as they see that they have exaggerated the price, they start with stocks.
“The goal is to preserve our own production. And to remain independent in the sense that we have enough food for our own needs, with some slight market surpluses, which would be directed to exports to the CEFTA region,” says Budimovic.
The purchasing power of the population will be a serious brake on further price increases. Citizens, they say, will manage as best they can, N1 reports.
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