Qatar food prices on the decline
Originally published in Gulf Times on February 9, 2009
THE prices of several essential commodities, including milk powder, rice, cooking oil and tea, are sliding down after they peaked to worrisome levels last year, a survey of the local stores has revealed.
“It is too early to say where the downtrend will end, not at least until the end of this quarter,” the manager of a leading store told Gulf Times yesterday.
However, he said fluctuating prices, particularly of items such as oil, rice, chicken and sugar, were not positive factors as farmers tended to switch to crops that brought them better returns, ditching the staples.
“When the price of a certain commodity shoots up globally, farmers switch to that crop, causing shortfalls of some items in the next season,” another retailer explained.
“Sugar is a point in case. It was available all over the world in ample supply. Then a large number of farmers stopped cultivating sugarcane and it suddenly became scarce and thus expensive,” he said.
One of the items that has recorded a tangible fall is milk powder. A pack of Rainbow (2.5kg) was priced QR64 last year (February 3-9). At eight major supermarkets it was available for QR56 yesterday. Other popular products like Klim and Nido have also followed suit.
The government-run Qatar Flour Mills’ Flour No 2 (5kg) averaged at QR18 yesterday while the price this time last year was QR27.
Red Label Tea (220gm) was being sold in the range of QR5.50-6.50. It was quoted at QR10.5 during the same period last year.
The price of cooking oil, although expected to come down to as much as 25%, has only slipped by 10-15% so far this year.
Punjab Basmati Rice from Pakistan is now available at around QR7.50 per kg after shooting up to as much as QR10 in 2008.
Other varieties, such as parboiled rice from Thailand and India are expected to see a further fall in prices.
The Indian government has yet to lift a ban on most brands of rice it enforced last year amidst a growing domestic demand. “When that is done, there should be a greater variety of Indian rice available at cheaper prices,” a trader told Gulf Times.
Frozen chicken (Sadia, Al Watania, Al Waha 1kg) were available from QR11-13 yesterday. But other brands of chicken were found to be substantially cheaper.
“Frozen chicken, especially from Brazil, now costs only $700 per ton after reaching $1,800 last year,” another trader said.
Fresh chicken continues to be priced at around QR18 though, after prices shot up from QR11 in April 2007 when the Qatari government slapped a ban on Saudi poultry after a bird flu scare, causing a severe shortage in the local market. Saudi chicken is now available in the country.
Asked for the reason for the general drop in prices, a trader said: “There are multiple factors like a decline in global demand and lower freight rates combined with an ease in supplies.”
On whether distributors in Qatar quickly pass on the drop in prices to consumers, retailers said the pricing mechanism in the country was “strictly monitored” by the authorities.
Food prices in Qatar have traditionally been 10-15% higher than Dubai, according to traders, because it takes more time for ships to arrive in Doha than in Dubai.
Calls to the Ministry of Business and Trade’s Consumer Protection Department that deals with prices and market control sections (4945455) went unanswered yesterday.
Hypermarkets lift freeze on prices – Page 5
Price-list of selected items – Page 5
As Published
