Sheep export decreases

A boom in the export of sheep hit Georgia in 2009 when 267 144 sheep were exported from the country. However, this trend soon calmed down when in 2010 160560 sheep and, so far, this year only 27 000 sheep were exported from Georgia. Analysts suggest two major reasons for this, the first reason is that mediators have emerged between the buyers of Georgian sheep and the sellers. This increased the price of the sheep. The average price of a Georgian sheep is about USD 100. The second reason is that most of the buyers of Georgian sheep who are Asians prefer to buy male sheep and this created a deficit of male sheep in the country. Unfortunately there are no exact figures of the quantity of sheep remaining in Georgia but it is believed that there are approximately 700 000 to 1 mln sheep in Georgia. This sector of agriculture will require better support if it is to be successful.