A shortage of subsidised meat has hit Bahrain's markets following a ban on chilled imports imposed last week.

Traders at the Manama Central Market told that they had been selling out all of their subsidised meat within the first two hours of operation since Saturday after the last shipment of chilled meat arrived, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

They say they are only receiving two or three locally-slaughtered subsidised carcasses a day, compared with the six or seven they would receive previously - and claim that restaurants pre-order much of this stock in advance.

The market opens at 4 am and by 6 am all that is left is the offal and offcuts, such as brains, liver and hooves, the traders said.

"There is meat in the early morning but we only get two or three pieces per person so it is all gone in two to three hours," said Central Market butcher Mohammad Iqbal.

"It is not enough and our regulars end up circling the market for an hour before they leave with nothing.

"There is still the local and Saudi meat but that does not sell as it is expensive."

Iqbal explained that subsidised mutton from Australia sells for BD1 ($2.6) per kg, whereas its Saudi Arabian equivalent retails for more than four times that amount.

"We haven't seen any beef since Friday," he said.

"There is Pakistani beef but it is expensive at BD3 a kilo."

Less desired parts of the animal, such as hooves and heads, are the only things that remain by 10am and even cuts of meat that are usually unpopular are selling out, the traders said.

"We get about 20 to 30kg of meat in the morning but by about 10am all that is left are heads and brains," said butcher Salah Al Hudayan.

"Head, brain and legs are not liked by everyone, only a few people used to buy these.

"But now even the heads are selling out by the time the market closes.

"Usually by the end of the day we have some left over but not these past two days."

With meat in such short supply people are turning to poultry for their protein - but even the chicken stocks are running out twice as fast now, poultry salesman Zubair Mohammad.

"As the chicken comes in, it sells very fast, much faster than before," he said.

"What used to take between seven to 12 hours to sell is now sold in about five hours - on Saturday it sold out in three."

On Tuesday, the Agriculture and Marine Resources Directorate ordered a halt to all chilled meat imports by Bahrain Livestock Company (BLC), after several consignments were found to be spoilt.

BLC announced ahead of time that beef in particular would be in short supply as the country's only importer of government-subsidised meat does not ship in live cows.

Subsidised lamb and mutton are available but in limited quantities, as the market will only be supplied with fresh meat from animals slaughtered in Bahrain.

As of last Thursday, the BLC had 21,000 head of livestock as its facility. Imports of non-subsidised chilled meat have not been affected.

The GDN previously reported that chilled subsidised meat equivalent to between 2,000 and 2,500 heads of livestock, including both mutton and beef, arrived in Bahrain on a daily basis - in addition to the 1,500 sheep slaughtered here every day. - TradeArabia News Service