Isaura Daniel
São Paulo – Brazil should face fierce competition on the world meat market starting in the second half of this year. "The United States and Europe will work to regain their markets after the sanitary problems they had," said Gilman Viana Rodrigues, vice-president for International Matters of the National Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock (CNA).
Mad cow disease cases were registered in the United States at the end of last year, and in Europe two and a half years ago. The Europeans also had problems with avian flu in 2003. Both regions, however, are recovering their herds. "They are already starting to put pressure on regaining their markets," said Viana, who participated in the 3rd Brazilian Agribusiness Congress, in São Paulo last Friday (25) as a panellist.
The United States has always been a major world beef provider. Europe, on the other hand, is the traditional chicken exporter. These are the segments in which Brazil has grown as an exporter. Last year, Brazilian beef and chicken sales on the international market went up 36.5% and 17.9% respectively.
To Saudi Arabia, for example, beef and chicken sales increased 25% in 2003 compared to the previous year. To Egypt, shipment of Brazilian bovine beef went up 60%. In the first half of last year, 7% of Egyptian beef imports originated in the United States. The country also imported live cattle from Ireland and suspended purchases when mad cow disease appeared in Europe.
New markets
Brazil has expanded the number of export destinations for its cattle beef from 44, in 1999, to over 100 this year. So as to keep its customers, on facing the US return to trading, Brazil will have to work hard.
The sector is already making changes to increase export. At the end of the month of May, the Brazilian Beef Industry and Exporters Association (Abiec) and the Brazilian Export Promotion Agency (Apex) signed an agreement forecasting investment of US$ 3.56 million in the promotion of Brazilian cattle beef. The program includes incentives to raw beef sales to the Middle East.
Brazilian agribusiness sales to the Arab countries should go on rising this year, according to the president of the Brazilian Agribusiness Association (Abag), Carlo Lovatelli. "Export to the region is going to grow. It is in the government and private company interest to have a larger number of markets, and new markets," stated Lovatelli, during the congress last week.
