Sudan exported about 700 tons of meat to Egypt in the first quarter of 2011, equaling the exported quantity in the last quarter of 2010. Abbas al-Fadel, an official in the Sudanese Minister of Agriculture, told Youm7 that the main obstacle to the meat exporting process is the transportation cost, which reached U.S. $1,000 for a ton of chilled meat. Al-Fadel said the solution lies in opening borders between the two countries, which would lead to decreasing the cost to $250 per ton. He said Sudan enjoys abundance in livestock, around 120 million head of cattle, so Sudan can meet the Egyptian demand for meat, which has reached 1,000 tons per day. Al-Fadel said importing the living cattle is organized by the private sector and monopolized by Al-Nasr Company, which is the sole company to import live Sudanese meat to Egypt. He called for easing measures to support Egypt's livestock.
