São Paulo – Exports of Brazilian live cattle to Egypt could reach up to 15,000 cattle per month and turn the North African country into the second largest buyer of Brazil in its area, according to estimate by the manager of Government Relations of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Tamer Mansour. On Wednesday (11), the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply announced that Egypt will resume purchases of live cattle from the country, which was suspended since the second half of 2014.
“This reopening is very positive, since it’s a market that now is resuming its purchases of animals from Brazil. The meat produced here needs to be at the Arab countries so that the trust in the health quality of the Brazilian cattle is reassured. Especially because the Brazilian herd feeds on natural pasture (grass)”, said Mansour.
In 2014, Egypt ceased imports of Brazilian cattle due to disputes between health agencies in Brazil and Egypt over interpretations of lab tests for the analysis of foot-to-mouth disease. Since then, the two countries have been working together to resolve the impasse.
Live cattle are imported by companies that wish to slaughter the animal in their own plants and meet a specific demand by consumers. According to Mansour, the resume of these imports shouldn’t affect the sales of fresh meat from Brazil to Egypt. “These are different consumer groups. Live cattle serves to be slaughtered in the country and sold to the local consumer. Meanwhile, frozen beef has industries as its main destination”, he said.
According to data from the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC), in 2014 Brazil exported USD 16.8 million in live cattle to Egypt, in a total of 23,000 animals. Overall, exports reached USD 633 million in a total of 624,500 animals that year. In 2015, already without the sales to Egypt, revenues with the shipments reached USD 198 million.
Still according to data from the MDIC, last year the main buyer of live cattle from Brazil was Venezuela, which imported 117,000 animals. Lebanon was the second largest importer with 50,000 animals. Jordan came in third with Iraq at the fourth position.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani