Record-Breaking Year: Brazilian Pork Exports Experience 9% Growth in Volume and Revenue in 2023

Brazil’s pork exports, including fresh and processed meat, came to a wrap in 2023 with a record-breaking 1.229 million tonnes, as reported by industry lobby ABPA. This result marks a 9.8% increase compared to the total volume shipped in 2022, which amounted to 1.120 million tonnes.

In terms of revenue, international pork sales reached a record-breaking US$2.818 billion over the twelve months of 2023, surpassing the 2022 figure of US$2.572 billion by 9.5%.

“Such an outcome confirms the projections set by ABPA for 2023, a year marked by production cost fluctuations and the pursuit of recovering profitability in this industry. Given the opening of new markets for Brazilian pork plus positive expectations for already traditional destinations, we expect to see the levels achieved last year again in the coming year,” evaluates ABPA President Ricardo Santin.

The sector’s exports closed the final month of the year on a positive note, with 110.9 thousand tonnes shipped in December, a performance 7.9% higher than the 102.8 thousand tonnes exported in the same period of 2022.

In terms of revenue, pork exports totaled US$231.5 million in December, representing an 8.8% decrease compared to the result recorded in December 2022, which stood at US$253.8 million.

See below which were the ports that excelled in maritime pork exports from Brazil. The data gathered by Datamar’s Business Intelligence team includes containerized shipments from January to November 2023.

Top Pork Export Ports | 2023 | TEU

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

As the largest importer of Brazilian pork, China received 388.6 thousand tons of the product throughout 2023, a 15.6% decrease compared to the total shipped to the country in the same period of 2022. Notably, sales to Hong Kong reached 126.6 thousand tonnes (+29.3%), followed by the Philippines with 126 thousand tonnes (+58.8%), Chile with 87.5 thousand tonnes (+44.2%), Singapore with 64.3 thousand tonnes (+16.2%), Uruguay with 49.1 thousand tonnes (+11.9%), Vietnam with 47.8 thousand tonnes (+4.8%), and Japan with 40.3 thousand tonnes (+46.9%).

“Pork exports for the year 2023 come to a close with the validation of a pattern that was noted, particularly in the second half, and that was influenced by the diversification of export destinations on the year-end outcome. This is especially the case for nations in Asia and the Americas,” says Luís Rua, Director of Markets at ABPA.

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