Rio de Janeiro – The slaughter of bovines has dropped in the first quarter of 2010 as against the last quarter of 2009. According to figures supplied by the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE), 7.075 million heads of cattle were slaughtered from January to March, that is, 5.3% more than in the last quarter of 2009. The slaughter of pork dropped 1.4% in the period.
The purchase of milk also dropped in the period. In the period, sales totalled 5.2 billion litres of milk, 4.8% less than in the previous quarter.
There was also a reduction in the purchase of wet blue leather: the 8.5 million units sold represent 4.9% less than in the last quarter of 2009. Most of the leather came from slaughterhouses (63.1%), whereas 26.4% was received from outsourced producers.
Production of chicken eggs and the slaughter of chickens remained stable from one quarter to the other. From January to March this year, 1.2 billion chickens were slaughtered and 600.7 million dozens of chicken eggs were produced.
“When we analyse the reduction in comparison with the previous period, one of the causes may be the lower exports,” said the research coordinator, Otávio Oliveira.
In the case of bovines, the IBGE has also identified a reduction in the offer of oxen, which resulted in the slaughter of cows. “The slaughter of cows, if it takes place regularly, as has occurred in the past, may reduce the herd’s capacity for reproduction. But I do not know whether that is the case. As it is only punctual [in this quarter]. We must go on following it, during the year, to see what will happen,” said Oliveira.
When comparing the first quarter of this year to the same period in 2009, the slaughter of cattle has risen (9%), as has that of pork (6.6%) and chicken (7.3%), the production of eggs is up 3.5%, the purchase of milk has expanded by 5.7% and that of wet blue leather, 10;4%.
*Translated by Mark Ament
