With Chinese embargo, Brazil beef exports drop 43% in October

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – ABRAFRIGO has compiled data from the Ministry of Economy’s Foreign Trade Secretariat and, according to the association, 108,000 tons of meat were sold by Brazil in October this year, considering fresh and processed products. In October of last year, 190,000 tons were sold.

The lower volume represented a 31% drop in the month’s revenue, down from US$790 million to US$541 million.

In addition to the impact of the Chinese embargo, a second factor points to the global container crisis, which affects the handling at the ports and is caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

China is the main buyer of Brazilian beef and accounts for 60% of shipments made through Brazilian ports. The suspension occurred after the detection of 2 cases of “mad cow disease” in national herds.

The World Organization for Animal Health’s (OIE) announcement that the risk of contagion had been eliminated was not enough for Chinese buyers to decide to resume shipments. The only export to the Asian country occurred in October and amounted to 27,000 tons.

However, the decision was specifically for a batch waiting in a port before the suspension and does not change the embargo on the Brazilian product.

In 2021, exports have now dropped 2.4%, although there was a 16% increase in revenues due to the rising price of the product in the international market.

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