October 12, 2007

Increased demand for mutton from China's Xinjiang

Buyers from the other regions of China had been purchasing significantly more mutton from Xinjiang this year.

According to data released by Xinjiang's livestock bureau on Monday (Oct 8), about 20,000 tonnes of mutton from Xinjiang had been delivered to other regions in China in the year-to-date, an increase of more than 50 percent compared with the same period last year.

Unlike previous years, when mutton sales in Xinjiang usually decline in the autumn season due to slower demand, cross-province orders had been rising steadily since end-July.

According to Wu Guangying, General Manager of Xinjiang Hualing Industry and Trade Group, the company's slaughterhouse had been receiving more orders from buyers in Henan, Sha'anxi and Inner Mongolia since July. Daily order from these buyers ranged from 9 to 10 tonnes. Hualing has suspended mutton deliveries to these regions since end-September due to tight supplies.

Market traders attributed increased demand for Xinjiang's mutton to reduced supplies of sheep and lamb from Inner Mongolia and Ningxia, as local authorities there had curbed grazing activities to preserve more green pastures. 

In addition, high prices of mutton in the international markets had also led domestic buyers to source for supplies from Xinjiang.