Brazil will reach record exports of poultry and beef this year

Brazil, one of the world’s largest meat exporters, will reach record volumes of chicken and beef shipments this year, of which it is the world’s largest supplier, according to projections released Monday by the Government.

According to forecasts by the National Supply Company (Conab), Brazilian exports of chicken meat will increase by 6% this year, from 4.47 million tons in 2021 to 4.74 million tons in 2022.

If the projection is met, it will be the largest volume of chicken meat already shipped by Brazil in its history, confirming the country as the world’s largest supplier of this protein.

The agency linked to the Ministry of Agriculture also estimates that beef exports will jump by 15%, from 2.48 million tons in 2021 to 2.84 million tons in 2022.

If confirmed, it will also be the largest volume of beef already exported by the Latin American giant, above the 2.69 million tons shipped in 2020, establishing Brazil as the world’s largest product exporter.

As for pork, Brazilian exports are expected to fall by 2%, from a record 1.13 million tons in 2021 to 1.11 million tons in 2022.

This reduction will be because China, which increased its imports in recent years after culling part of its herd due to sanitary problems, began gradually recovering its production this year and reduced shipments to Brazil.

The projection leaves Brazil as the world’s seventh largest pork exporter.

According to Conab, although Brazilian meat production will stabilize this year, with 28.1 million tons including chicken, beef, and pork, the increase in exports and the high prices in the domestic market will cause the protein available to the Brazilian consumer to fall to its lowest level in recent years.

Meat exports will rise from 8.1 million tons in 2021 to 8.7 million tons in 2022, and the protein available for the domestic market will fall from 20.3 million tons last year to 19.5 million tons this year.

As a result, meat available to the Brazilian consumer will fall from 95.1 kilos per capita per year in 2021 to 90.9 kilos per capita per year in 2022, the lowest level since 2009 (86.4 kilos per capita per year).

This decrease will be partly because Brazilian chicken and beef production will fall this year.

Pork production, on the other hand, will rise from 4.70 million tons in 2021 to 4.84 million tons this year.

With information from EFE