China continues as top destination for Brazilian beef, but prices decline

China remains the destination for a little over half of all the volume of Brazilian beef exported in 2023; however, the prices paid by the Chinese have been steadily declining over the past few months. In August, for instance, they reached the lowest level since November 2021, according to information released on Thursday (September 14) by the Center for Advanced Studies in Applied Economics (Cepea) at Esalq/USP.

According to the market analysis company Agrifatto, China has well-stocked inventories and is cautious when it comes to making new purchases, resulting in lower prices for beef exports.

The chart below shows Brazil’s beef exports from Jan 2019 to Jul 2023. The data used was gathered with the aid of the DataLiner maritime data service.

Brazilian beef exports | Jan 2019 – Jul 2023 | WTMT

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Regarding the international market, the consultancy reports that in the Mercosur region, the price of live cattle in dollars has fallen in all countries, with a high supply of animals in Uruguay and Paraguay putting downward pressure on prices.

According to researchers at Cepea, this context has reinforced the downward trend in Brazilian beef prices, which, in turn, had already been influenced by the greater supply of animals for slaughter.

In São Paulo, according to Agrifatto, slaughter-ready cattle ended Wednesday priced at R$ 206.90 per arroba, an increase of 4.6% and 5.6% in the daily and weekly comparison, respectively. On the B3 futures market, there were negative movements for all contracts this year. The November 2023 contract was priced at R$ 227.75 per arroba, a decrease of 0.65% compared to the previous day.

Source: Globo Rural

To read the original news text, see: https://globorural.globo.com/cotacoes/noticia/2023/09/china-reduz-compras-de-carne-e-pressiona-preo-da-arroba-do-boi.ghtml

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