Calves: 1,000 Dinars in Macva, 850 in Vranje, STIPS Shows
STIPS's weekly livestock report shows how much cattle prices swing from market to market: calves, piglets and lambs shift by as much as 150 dinars per kilogram in the same week.
Simmental calves weighing up to 160 kilograms reached 1,000 dinars per kilogram in the Macva region, while the same category at the livestock market in Vranje cost 850 dinars per kilogram in the same week, 150 dinars less. The figures come from the weekly report of Serbia’s Agricultural Market Information System (STIPS), published on September 3, which for the first time puts concrete numbers behind the talk of rising meat prices that had mostly stayed at the level of forecasts.
Calves Cross the 1,000-Dinar Mark Again
In the Sabac area, at slaughterhouses in the Macva region, Simmental calves up to 160 kilograms again reached a dominant purchase price of 1,000 dinars per kilogram, up from the previous week. Fattening cattle heavier than 480 kilograms from the same area stayed at 470 dinars per kilogram, unchanged.
In the Raska region, calves of the same category sold for 900 dinars per kilogram, while Simmental fattening bulls heavier than 500 kilograms reached 460 dinars, and cows for slaughter went for 330 dinars per kilogram.
At the livestock market in Vranje, the calf price dropped to 850 dinars per kilogram. In the Pcinja region, which includes Vranje, fattening cattle weighing between 350 and 480 kilograms rose to 480 dinars per kilogram, and fattening bulls heavier than 500 kilograms reached 470 dinars.
A rise in the purchase price of fattening cattle was also recorded in the Central Banat region, up to 430 dinars per kilogram for animals heavier than 480 kilograms. In Belgrade and the surrounding area, the price of fattening bulls held steady at 430 dinars per kilogram, with good supply and somewhat weaker purchasing. In the South Backa region, fattening cattle heavier than 480 kilograms sold for 450 dinars per kilogram, with average supply and weaker purchasing.
Piglets Cost More in Kraljevo, Less in Podrinje
The selling price of piglets weighing 16 to 25 kilograms at the livestock market in Kraljevo rose to 400 dinars per kilogram, with supply and sales volume similar to the previous week. In the Raska region, purchase prices for piglets weighing 16 to 35 kilograms, as well as for fattening pigs and sows for slaughter, also rose, but to a lower dominant price of 320 dinars per kilogram, 80 dinars below Kraljevo. In the Podrinje region, piglets of the same category were bought at the lowest of the three prices, 330 dinars per kilogram.
Outside the Central Banat region, fattening pigs sold for 200 to 210 dinars per kilogram, and sows for slaughter for 160 dinars. In the Central Banat region, the purchase price of fattening pigs weighing 80 to 120 kilograms rose to 245 dinars per kilogram, while in Belgrade and the surrounding area it held at 220 dinars. In the South Backa region, prices for piglets and fattening pigs did not change. In the Branicevo region and at the market in Pozarevac, there was no purchase or sale of piglets or fattening pigs at all over the past week.
Lambs Reach 500 Dinars, Sheep Steady at 200
Lambs and kids in Kraljevo sold at the same dominant price of 450 dinars per kilogram. In the Raska region, the purchase price of lambs rose to 370 dinars per kilogram. At the market in Vranje, lambs reached 480 dinars per kilogram, and kids 450 dinars.
Kamatica’s review of the STIPS data notes that lamb prices at several markets reached 480 to 500 dinars per kilogram, while Blic, in a piece carried by Naslovi.net, singles out Pozarevac as the highest, at 500 dinars per kilogram. The numbers match: at the livestock market in Pozarevac, lambs sold for 500 dinars per kilogram and sheep for 200 dinars, the same as in the previous several weeks. Good lamb supply was also recorded in Leskovac, at the same price of 500 dinars per kilogram, while the supply of kids and sheep there was very weak: kids sold for 350 dinars and sheep for 200 dinars per kilogram.
Why the Price Depends on the Market
Every week, STIPS collects purchase and selling prices from livestock markets and slaughterhouses across Serbia, and these figures show exactly why there is practically no single meat price on the domestic market. The same category of animal gets more expensive in one part of the country in a given week, while it gets cheaper or stays the same in another, and in this report the gap for calves and piglets reaches as much as 150 dinars per kilogram. For buyers and slaughterhouses, that means the choice of where to buy an animal directly changes the math; for consumers, it means an announced meat price increase in one region does not automatically apply to another.
