Alexandre Rocha
São Paulo – The State of Goiás Agriculture and Livestock Federation (Faeg) is mobilizing state producers to supply the United Arab Emirates demand for agricultural and livestock products. Faeg took advantage of the Goiás (center-western) state delegation going to the Index furniture fair, in Dubai last month, and sent their technical advisor, veterinary surgeon Luiz Belchior, and the president of the Beef Industry Union, José Magno Pato, together with the state foreign affairs advisor, Elie Chidiac. "In the past, we used to sell Brazil externally, now we are selling Goiás", said Belchior. He went on to say that the group visited many businessmen in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Macel Caixeta, the Faeg president, said that Arab interest was so great that the institution is articulating its directors, employees, cooperatives and local producers to form a kind of "task force" to supply all the necessary demands and take advantage of all the business opportunities that came up.
"We are working on making the business possible. The purchase volume is not so small, and our industry is not prepared to supply at the drop of a hat", explained Caixeta. "Our intention is to bring the producer close to the buyer so that they can negotiate directly, with no intermediaries", he added.
He explained that the Arabs showed great interest in purchasing cattle beef, leather, poultry, powdered milk, sugar, coffee and soy.
Meat
In the case of beef, the Emirates want to purchase 500 tons of special cuts of the hind part of oxen, 200 in November and 300 in December, as well as 2,000 tons of boneless front part starting in January.
"Goiás produces beef in very competitive conditions. We have the largest foot and mouth disease free herd in the country, quality – we have green cattle -, and good prices", he pointed out. The so-called "green cattle" is bread on pastures, with no use of hormones or other chemical substances.
Belchior explains that Goiás slaughters about 4.2 million heads of cattle per year and exports 15% of this total. Cattle beef and poultry are two items that the state may supply in great quantities at short notice, he says.
In the same line, Belchior said that leather export should pose no problem. "The state of Goiás slaughters 4.2 million heads of cattle per year, and can provide all the leather the Emirates needs", stated Belchior.
In terms of poultry, Caixeta says that the Arab countries want to import around 130 tons immediately, and another 200 tons a month in future. He said that the federation is negotiating with (food producer) Perdigão, which has a unit in the state, to supply this chicken demand, as the product consumed in Arab countries is smaller than that consumed in Brazil, and in other traditional markets, such as Europe.
Another Perdigão advantage is that they are Halal certified. Perdigão is already a great poultry exporter to the region, and all its chicken plants are Halal certified. "But I believe we will only be able to export in January, as the entire production up to December has already been sold", added Belchior.
Soy
In the case of soy, informs Caixeta, businessmen in the Emirates want to buy 60,000 tons per month. He commented, though, that this deal can only be closed for the next harvest, as grain in this amount is currently not available.
He went on to say that Goiás produces on average 6.3 million tons of soy a year, and this volume is expected to reach 7 million tons in 2004. The Arabs, says Caixeta, could purchase between 700,000 and 1 million tons per year.
Belchior then explained that, during the trip to the Emirates, the group got in touch with a local businessman interested in establishing a soy crushing plant in the Dubai Jabel Ali free zone, and he may come to Brazil at the beginning of next year so as to proceed with negotiations and "see" the planted soy.
Milk
Regarding powdered milk, the Emirates demand has not yet been defined, but it is for December. Goiás produces, says the Faeg president, six million liters of whole milk a day. The problem in this field, states Belchior, is that the Arabs demand the product be packed in cans, instead of the aluminized bags used by the local industry. The justification is that the bags "become lumpy" due to the local climate.
"We talked to a group that has 35 hypermarkets in various countries in the region, but they did not like the packages", he explained. Belchior went on to say that an agreement with a local company for "repacking" of the product in the Emirates is a possibility. "We are talking to our industries checking if they can supply the product", added Caixeta.
Sugar and coffee
Belchior said that the Arabs have not informed how much sugar they would like to buy. He also stated that the preference is for coarse sugar in large quantities. "I have heard that of every 20 Arabs, five are diabetic, as they like sugar so much", he exclaims.
Belchior also said that executives in the Emirates have also shown interest in the coffee produced in the state, in the Cristalina region, at 1,200 meters altitude and "the best in Brazil".
"The Arabs want price and quality, they are great traders", stated Belchior. "It is a universe of 2 billion people, as the Emirates re-export throughout the region and to India, the Philippines, and North Africa", he explained.
He believes that it will only be possible to say whether the volumes traded between the state of Goiás and the Emirates will be large in future. "When we set foot there, and they set foot here, the figures will change. In the beginning we were quite surprised", he says.
