São Paulo – Beef sales from Brazil to the United Arab Emirates increased by 175% year-on-year through October 2019, the Brazilian Meat Packers Association (Abrafrigo) reported this Friday (8).
Total beef exports from Brazil were up 11% in volume and 8% in revenue, to 1.4 million tonnes and USD 5.7 billion. Through October 2018, exports from Brazil came out to 1.3 million tonnes and USD 5.3 billion.
Apart from the UAE, Brazilian beef exports soared by 694% to Russia, 509% to turkey, 43% to the Philippines and 84% to Uruguay.
Abrafrigo highlighted sales to China, which climbed 3% year-on-year to 603,700 tonnes. In October alone, China purchased 65,000 tonnes of beef from Brazil, a monthly record and up 110% year-on-year.
An Abrafrigo press release said the hike in sales to China made up for diminishing sales to Hong Kong, which is gradually shifting its imports to the continent.
Out of the top 20 importers of Brazilian beef, sales eased to only four destinations: Hong Kong, down 12.8%, Iran, down 22%, Saudi Arabia, down 1.1% and the United Kingdom, down 17.3%.
Abrafrigo believes exports will increase further in 2020 as new markets are expected to come into the picture, including Indonesia and other Southeast Asia countries. There’s also a possibility that the United States will begin importing raw beef from Brazil – it only buys processed beef at this time.
The industry association expects yearlong beef exports to be up 10%. “The prognosis is that this market trend will persist, since sales are usually stronger towards the end of the year,” the press release read.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
