Alexandre Rocha*
São Paulo – While poultry producers commemorate repeated increases in sector foreign trade, pork exporters are suffering their greatest export reduction in the last 12 months. The main reason for this drop is the import quota system installed in Russia, the largest market for the sector.
According to figures supplied by the Brazilian Poultry Exporters Association (Abef), shipping of whole chicken and chicken in pieces totalled 157,000 tonnes last month, equivalent to US$ 155 million, a 7.15% increase in export quantity and 38.95% increase in revenues in comparison to January last year. With regard to December 2003, the growth registered has been 8% in revenues and 10% in export volume.
The organization informed that such performance was the result of contracts closed in previous months and also of product price increases on the international market. Therefore, according to the Abef, the export increase in January cannot yet be considered an effect of avian flu in Asia and the United States, a fact that caused many nations to cancel chicken import from these countries.
In the pork sector, however, the scenery is very different. Export in January totalled 20,679 tonnes, equivalent to US$ 26.5 million, a 48% drop in quantity and 28% drop in revenues in comparison to the figures for January 2003, figures supplied by the Brazilian Pork Exporters Association (Abipecs).
Last year Brazil exported 491,487 tonnes of pork, being 313,500 tonnes to Russia. However, with the quota system adopted by the Slavic country, Brazilian produce is going to have to dispute a 179,500 tonne quota with other countries.
Claims
Worried with this situation, on Thursday (19), producers in the sector presented agriculture minister Roberto Rodrigues with a document proposing steps to be taken to reduce excessive product offer on the domestic market, a problem caused by the reduction of export to Russia.
Among the attitudes to be taken by the producers are the reduction of the number of reproducers, a four-kilogram reduction in average slaughter weight, marketing campaigns and articulation with the Brazilian Supermarket Association (Abras) for sales promotion.
From the government, the suggested measures are: the inclusion of pork in the minimum price policy system, permitting the federal government to buy a total of 30,000 tonnes of the product; creation of a credit line with interest of 8.75% per year for storage; increase of use of the product in public institutions; export promotion; financial, material, and personnel investment in sanitary defence of the animal. The government is already studying the liberation of financing of around US$ 70 million for the pork sector.
Apart from this, representatives from the sector are maintaining talks with Russian authorities for a revision of the quota system. The same is taking place in the poultry and cattle beef sectors, also suffering with restrictions created by the Slavic country, although not in the same way as Russia is not the main market for these two sectors. The main destination of Brazilian poultry, for example, is the Middle East.
However, the Abef has also announced discouraging figures with regard to Russian purchase. In January, shipping to the country totalled 3,936 tonnes of chicken, equivalent to US$ 3 million, an 82% reduction in quantities sold and 73% reduction in revenues when compared to January last year. In comparison with December 2003, drops were 58.5% in quantities and 66% in revenues.
Russian mission in Brazil
This week a mission headed by Russian vice prime minister Boris Alioshin landed in Brazil to discuss, among other subjects, commercial relations between both countries. Yesterday (19), minister Rodrigues stated that, despite the quota system, the Russians are intending to increase the purchase of Brazilian chicken due to the sanitary crisis occurring, mostly, in the Asian countries.
The minister added that the revision of quotas does not represent a significant increase in export to that country this year. He said, however, that Alioshin has stated pork and chicken export should rise, as should that of Brazilian soy and maize.
Negotiations of the quotas started in January, when ministers Rodrigues and Luiz Fernando Furlan (Development) headed a mission to Moscow.
WTO: conditioned support
Still on Thursday (19), foreign relations minister Celso Amorim stated that Brazil intends to support Russian entry in the World Trade Organization (WTO), but, in exchange, wants the reduction of barriers against Brazilian meats.
"WTO negotiations are political, but they are also occasionally related to product matters. The solution given to this subject will help us support faster Russian entry in the organization," stated minister Amorim to Agência Brasil.
Despite the problems with Russia, the average price of Brazilian pork on the foreign market is still rising. It reached US$ 1,284 per tonne in January, a 38% increase with comparison to the value registered in the same month in 2003.
Even with the quota system, Russia was still the largest market for Brazilian pork last month, according to Hong Kong, Argentina, Singapore, and Uruguay. In the case of chicken, the main destinations in January in terms of revenues were Japan, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Holland, and Germany.
* with information from Agência Brasil
