China approves new Argentine slaughterhouses for beef export

China has approved six new Argentine slaughterhouses and processing factories for beef export.

China, the world’s largest pork producer, has seen its pig herd shrink by one-third since African swine fever came to the country over a year ago. This has led to an increase in beef imports from markets such as Argentina and Brazil.

Agriculture Minister Luis Etchevehere, who traveled to China last week announced the six recently approved plants in a tweet. “We have the advantage of being an economy complementary to Chinese demand, marking the way to establish a strategic alliance with one of the main players in the world economy. We are here to strengthen these links,” said Etchevehere, according to state news agency Telam.

China is Argentina’s second largest trading partner and its largest agricultural export market, according to the report.

In 2018, Argentine beef exports to China increased 118% from 2017, generating US$862m in revenue, according to the Argentine president’s office.

In the first seven months of this year, Argentina exported US$868m in beef to the Asian country, its main beef export market, according to the government.

The following chart, made from Datamar’s DataLiner data, shows Argentine beef exports to China since 2015:

Chart Source: DataLiner/Datamar

Sources: Reuters and MenaFN

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