Brazilian meatpackers seek to resume beef exports to Venezuela

Brazil is seeking to resume beef exports to Venezuela, once one of the main markets for Brazilian beef. This week, a multisector delegation organized by Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in Caracas to discuss the issue with local authorities and importers.

Brazilian beef shipments to Venezuela have been virtually halted since mid-2015, when the sharp decline in oil prices and the start of U.S. sanctions deepened the Venezuelan economic crisis. At their peak in 2014, Brazilian beef exports to Venezuela totaled 160,000 tonnes and generated US$852 million in revenue.

The mission, which began on Tuesday, includes business meetings between companies from both countries to discuss trade and investment opportunities. Brazil’s meat industry believes Venezuela’s gradual economic recovery could create conditions for beef demand to improve over the coming years.

Still, the country’s prolonged economic crisis and low beef consumption remain obstacles for Brazilian exporters seeking to regain market share. Before 2015, Venezuelans consumed an average of 21 kilos of beef per person per year. Consumption plunged in the following years and reached just three kilos per capita in 2019. It has since recovered, but remains at only nine kilos per person. In Brazil, by comparison, annual consumption averages 35 kilos.

Even so, the figures point to long-term growth potential, said Julio Ramos, strategic affairs director at the Brazilian Beef Exporters Association, Abiec, who is part of the mission in Caracas.

“We naturally tend to look at very distant markets and often overlook important opportunities in our own region. Venezuela was once a major market for Brazilian beef and remains a strategic country,” he said.

Nearly 80 Brazilian meatpacking plants are authorized to export beef to Venezuela. According to Agrostat, the Agriculture Ministry’s foreign trade statistics platform, Venezuela imported 25,300 tonnes of Brazilian beef between 2016 and 2026.

Source: Globo Rural

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