There
is no immediate relief in sight for harassed housewives. Meat prices that have
skyrocketed to reach MNT6,000 at some markets are unlikely to fall
significantly before the autumn. Summer is when consumption goes down in Mongolia but
sellers fear that with supply erratic that will not help bring prices down this
year.

Right
now prices are high because supply is inadequate following the death of so many
animals. Many families have started buying chicken more, while the poorer
sections are buying smaller portions of their favorite lamb.

The
largely wholesale market of Khuchit Shonkhor is the major provider of meat for Ulaanbaatar. The number
of stalls there has gone down and the price stays around MNT4,400 a kilo. There
is no meat from the dzud-affected western provinces, and all the meat is coming
from the eastern provinces. The meat passes through many hands on its way from
herders to the market, with the price rising at every step.

At
Khuchit Shonkhor retailers buy (all prices are given for one kg) beef with
bones for MNT4,700,  beef rib and back
without bones for MNT4,600-4,800, and beef round without bones for MNT6,000.
Camel meat sells for MNT4,200, horse meat for MNT3,700, lamb for MNT4,900-5,200,
and goat meat for MNT4,100.

All
sellers complain of low sales. One said earlier he would sell the meat of two
horses on an average day, but now he has to cajole people to buy. Beef salesmen
agree. Most of them also feel that the pricing chain does not work well.
Herders often ask for high prices but that has to be accepted as supply is low.
That will change only in autumn when herders will bring animals to sell as
students come in numbers to study at universities in Ulaanbaatar.

Chicken
at Khuchit Shonkhor costs MNT4,000 though one particular company sells it for
MNT3,000. It is uniformly cheaper at Bars market where the management imports
chicken through long-term contracts. There has been a shortage in the last ten days
or so but in general business in chicken has been good. One stall holder says
she sells more than 100 kg of chicken per day. There was a time when chicken sold
well only during holidays, but now demand is constant. Chicken legs are
MNT3,500 per kg, and quarter legs are MNT4,200. At Bars, a kg of smoked ham is
MNT9,500, a kg of pork  with bone
MNT6,000 and pork without bones MNT7,500.

People
who cannot find any state reserve meat often charge sellers with charging
higher for the reserve meat, but a shopkeeper asserted they have their own
reserve.