São Paulo – The Middle East’s share of overall exports by the Brazilian meat packer Minerva went up in H1 of this year. Results released by the company this Tuesday evening (2) show that the region accounted for 21% of Minerva’s total exports from January through June, up four percentage points from H1 2015.
“Countries whose imports increased the most were Iran, Iraq, Palestine, and the United Arab Emirates,” the company said in a report. It added that Saudi Arabia lifted its embargo on fresh beef from Brazil at the end of Q1 this year, and therefore is underrepresented in year-on-year results. The ban lift, however, was first made public in November 2015.
Minerva saw its exports rise in H1, going from BRL 5.7 billion in H1 2015 to BRL 7.1 billion in H1 of this year, a 24.1% increase. Q2 exports also grew, though by a lesser 0.9% rate, going from BRL 1.56 billion in Q2 2015 to BRL 1.57 billion in Q2 2016.
During H1, the top importing region for Minerva was Asia, which took in 28% of the company’s foreign sales. Next on the list were the Middle East, and then Africa with 16%. The Americas and the European Union were tied in the fourth spot at 13% each, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), comprising former Soviet republics, ranked sixth at 5%.
Minerva said its exports accounted for 67% of Q2 consolidated revenues, and exports from its meats division were up 6.9% from Q2 2015. “This was due to the commercial strategy put in place by the company towards the end of the quarter, which prioritized operational profitability,” it said in its report.
“This ultimately led to a postponement in the factoring in of sales numbers from Q2 to Q3 2016, but this strategy improved the profitability of operations carried out, and is part of a negotiation process to rebuild export margins, considering the recent devaluation of the United States currency against the real,” the report reads.
Slaughtering was down 9.5% in H1, with sales volume dropping 3.3%. Gross revenues, however, were up 15.4% to BRL 10.2 billion. Net income was up 12.4% to BRL 7.1 billion, and losses eased 73.6% over H1 2015 to BRL 244.3 million, from BRL 926.2 million in H1 2015.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
