São Paulo – Despite the overall increase in exports by Brazilian Minerva Foods, one of the leading companies in South America in the production and trading of beef, the Middle East lost participation in the company’s revenues with sales to the global market. A report from Q2 released this Wednesday (4th) shows that the region used to account for 20% of beef exports by the meat company in the year-to-year up to June 2014 period and dropped to 16% year-to-year ending in June of this year.
“The company redirected throughout this last 12 months, part of these exports to other regions with better profitability such as Asia and North Africa”, says the company in the report about the Middle East, emphasizing, however, that sales to Iran has consistently increased. In North Africa, just like the Middle East, there are some Arab countries. It’s the case of Egypt, the largest market of Minerva in Africa. Sales to the country increased 59%.
Africa’s share as a whole in Minerva’s beef exports remained stable at 17% year-to-year up to June 2015 and also 17% year-to-year up to June 2014. Meanwhile, the Americas dropped from 17% to 12% and the Commonwealth of Independent States (which has Russia as a member) also, going from 20% to 18%. But Asia increased its share from 12% to 19%, followed by the European Union, from 11% to 13%, and Nafta, from 3% to 5%.
Minerva had an increase in revenues in Q2 of this year and also in year-to-year until June and pointed out the importance of exports in its performance. Gross revenues stood at R$ 8.8 billion (US$ 2.52 billion) in twelve months, an increase of 39.4%. Sales to the global market totaled R$ 5.7 billion (US$ 1.63 billion), an increase of 33.2%. In this period also increased the sales volume in 24.6% to 576,800 tons, and the slaughter in 21.7% to 2.36 million cattle units, according to numbers released by the company.
Minerva underscored the results of Q2. It pointed out, in the report, the worsening of the macroeconomic indicators in Brazil in the period, and cited, among the strategies taken to face this scenario, a greater focus in exports. From April to June, the company increased in 33.7% its gross revenues over the same months in 2014, to R$ 2.3 billion (US$ 659 million), and exports’ revenues increased 31.1% to R$ 1.5 billion (US$ 429 million).
The meat company increased in 21.6% in volume its international sales of beef in Q2 and highlighted the number over Brazil’s decrease of 11.6% in exports of the product in the period. The company’s market share went from 15.1% to 24.4%.
Despite the adverse scenario, Minerva also increased its revenues with domestic sales in 39% in Q2 this year. It totaled R$ 789.7 million (US$ 226.28 million). The company said that it in the second semester in expects the domestic market to be hit by the current economic scenario, with higher unemployment rates and real loss income against inflation, but that it should compensated by the strong demand on external markets.
Minerva Foods has producing plants in Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay and keeps international trade offices in Latin America, United States, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Europe. Among these offices are the ones in Algeria and Lebanon, which are Arab countries. The Paraguay’s production is also exported to the Middle East. In Q2 of this year, 4% of Minerva’s external sales from the Paraguay plant went to Kuwait.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
