Brazilian Meat Export

Brazilian Meat Export. Brazilian beef exports increased 12% year-to-date to August, rising to around 1.3 million tonnes, boosted by imports from China, which increased purchases by 65.8% in the same period, said on Tuesday (8) the Brazilian Refrigerators Association (Abrafrigo).

The second half of 2020 was marked by a consistent upward movement across the meat industry in Brazil. The fact is that the supply restriction scenario, added to the expressive flow of shipments, put the prices of the production chain in another level. From January to August, China has already imported about 779 thousand tons of beef in carcass equivalent, occupying a market share of approximately 41% of Brazilian shipments. Chinese importers have already increased their purchases of Brazilian beef by 150% in 2020. The trend for the last quarter is to maintain the good pace of shipments.

The Chinese, who increased their purchases due to the reduced supply of animal protein due to the impacts of African swine fever on their herd, accounted for 62.4% of all beef exported by Brazilians in the year through August, Abrafrigo said, based on Brazilian government data.

After China, Brazil's second largest customer was Egypt, which imported 91,529 tonnes from January to August, down 25.4% year-on-year. Chile came in third with 50,360 tons acquired (-34.2%), while Russia came in fourth with 43,177 tons (-4.6%). In the fifth position are the United States, which increased purchases by almost 40%, to 34,502 tons.

For the year 2021, the Brazilian market will continue to be centered on exports, with the expectation of a very strong presence from China in Brazilian shipments. Logically, growth in 2021 will not be in the same proportion as growth in 2020, but the repetition of the figures for the current year alone would be enough to keep prices at a high level in the domestic market. The trend is for Brazil to export about 3.16 million tonnes of beef in carcass equivalent next year, almost 4.5% more. For the current year, shipments are expected to reach 3.03 million tons in carcass equivalent.