São Paulo – The Middle East’s share in overall meat exports by the Brazilian meat company Minerva Foods increased from 15% to 19% in the 12-month period ended September, according to figures released by the company last Thursday evening (6th). In its report, the company states that the region’s share also increased in quarter three (Q3). The highlights were Iran, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates.
“We would like to stress again that our niche market sales concentrate in that region, especially religious-certified meat cuts (Halal and Kosher) and markets that consume chilled hindquarter cuts, which yield higher profitability,” the report reads. According to a chart, the Middle East was the second leading foreign market for Minerva Foods from October 2013 through September 2014, after the Community of Independent States (CIS), a group comprising Russia and other former Soviet Union member countries. The CIS accounted for 22% of the company’s exports.
Minerva Foods also sells to another part of the world where Arab countries are located – North Africa. According to the company, the region’s share in overall foreign sales was down two percentage points in the 12-month period ended September from the comparable preceding period, from 16% to 14%. “We have redirected part of the sales formerly targeted at that region to countries such as Russia, Venezuela and Chile, which offered higher earnings and prices during the period,” Minerva Foods has reported.
Other foreign destinations for the company’s products included the Americas, at 17%, Asia, at 12%, the European Union, at 13%, and the Nafta, at 3%. Total export revenues were up 20.5% in twelve months, from R$ 3.7 billion (US$ 1.4 billion) to R$ 4.46 billion (US$ 1.76 billion). Foreign sales also increased year-on-year in Q3, albeit by a slightly lower rate, at 12.4%, from R$ 1.0 billion to R$ 1.2 billion.
In the 12-month period ended September, Minerva slaughtered 1.9 million heads of cattle, a 1.5% decline, but slaughtered 560,300 heads in Q3, up 5.2%. Gross revenues were up 20.9% in 12 months and up 21.3% in Q3, to R$ 6.7 billion (US$ 2.6 billion) and R$ 1.9 billion (US$ 751 million), respectively. Nonetheless, the company posted losses of R$ 230.8 million (US$ 91.2 million) in 12 months and R$ 193.8 million (US$ 76.6 million) in Q3.
In a message from the board, chairman Fernando Galletti de Queiroz highlighted the company’s strong operational performance and the continuation of its growth plan, as well as the higher revenue and export figures. He remarked that in Q3, the dollar price of raw beef was up 16.4%, that demand from emerging countries is growing and the share of suppliers such as the United States, Australia and Europe in the global market is decreasing.
Russia has banned food imports from the United States and the European Union, which have applied sanctions against Moscow due to the conflicts in East Ukraine. This has favoured exports of products such as beef, poultry and grains from Brazil to the country.
Minerva has purchased meat packing plants in the cities of Mirassol D’Oeste and Várzea Grande, in Mato Grosso state, from Mato Grosso Bovinos, an arm of Brasil Foods (BRF), but the extraordinary general assembly to approve the incorporation took place in October. Minerva has a daily slaughtering capacity of 15,880 heads of cattle and a daily deboning capacity of 18,866 heads of cattle. The company owns units in the states of São Paulo, Rondônia, Goiás, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, and Minas Gerais, and in Paraguay and Uruguay.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
