Brazilian beef shipments dip 25%

The Brazilian Association of Meatpacking Industries (Abrafrigo) announced on May 8 that the revenue from beef exports, both fresh and processed, reached US$1.104 billion in April, marking a 43% drop from the same period last year. The association gathered data from the Ministry of Economy’s Foreign Trade Secretariat (Secex). Parallelly, the volume of shipments fell 25%, totaling 140.7 thousand tonnes.

The lowering numbers were driven by a decrease in imports by China, which halted beef purchases in March. It is worth noting that exports usually occur 45 days after the sale.

From January to April, exports generated $2.882 billion, a decrease of 28% compared to the same period last year, and the volume decreased by 12% to 639.6 thousand tonnes. Average prices dropped by 18% to $4,506. In total, 65 countries increased their purchases of Brazilian beef, while 74 reduced them.

China, which imported the equivalent of $2.233 billion in the first four months of 2022, bought only $1.326 billion in Brazilian beef in the first four months of this year. Revenue has been declining month by month since January when it was $485.2 million.

The United States was the second largest destination for Brazilian beef, even though they bought 5% less than in the first four months of 2022. Americans imported 75.2 thousand tonnes, which generated $333 million, down 23.7% compared to last year.

See below Brazil’s exports of beef month by month from January 2019 to March 2023. The data used to draft the chart below was gathered through Datamar’s business intelligence service DataLiner.

Brazilian beef exports | Jan 2019 – Mar 2023 | WTMT

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Brazilian exports of pork (both fresh and processed), on the other hand, increased in April and the first four months of the year alike, according to ABPA. As a result, the volume increased by 16.6% compared to April 2022, to 104.5 thousand tonnes, and revenue increased by 29.9% to $251.3 million.

From January to April, protein shipments totaled 379.4 thousand tonnes, or 15.9% more than in the same period of the previous year. The total revenue in the four months increased by 29.7%, totaling $897.7 million.

Luís Rua, the director of markets at ABPA, estimates that, at this pace, exports should reach 1.2 million tons this year. According to him, this growth is due to the expansion and opening of new markets and the resilient demand from China and other Asian countries, such as Japan and South Korea.

Source: Valor Econômico

To read the original news report, please click on: https://valor.globo.com/agronegocios/noticia/2023/05/09/embarque-brasileiro-de-carne-bovina-recua-25.ghtml

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