Pork boosts Brazil’s meat exports
According to data from the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC), total agricultural exports reached $9.64bn in October, an 11.8% increase on the same month last year and a record monthly figure. Total exports so far this year are now sitting at $80.88bn, an increase of 1.8% over the same period last year.
Meat was the second-strongest performer over the year, with exports totalling $12.98bn from January to October 2012, a 4.7% increase year-on-year. Within the sector, chicken exports reached 3.12 million tonnes (mt), worth $5.92bn, while beef exports reached 1.02mt, contributing $4.75bn.
Pork, which experienced setbacks earlier in the year, due to export restrictions in Argentina and Russia, reached 485,750t, worth $1.25bn in the period January to October 2012. However, pork exports have shown recovery in recent months and hit their highest level so far this year in October.
Despite a lower average price (-7.94%), Brazilian pork exports increased 33.64% in volume and 23.04% in revenue year-on-year last month, reaching 61,742t and generating revenues of $166.39m.
Ukraine is the main destination for Brazilian pork, accounting for 24.01% of export volumes this year, followed by Russia with 22.34% of volumes. However, Russia is a higher-value market and leads in terms of revenue, accounting for 25.02% of the total, compared to Ukraine, which accounted for 24.14%. Hong Kong is the third-biggest market in terms of both volume and revenue.
The Brazilian Association of Pork Producers and Exporters (ABIPECS) said that an increase in exports to the US had helped drive up pork’s performance over the year. Brazil exported 489,927t of pork to the US between January and October 2012, generating revenues of $1.25bn and representing an increase of 12.25% in volume and 4.48% in value compared to the same period last year.
However, ABIPECS said sales to Argentina fell again last month, taking the country out of the list of top five destinations for Brazilian pork. “This is the result of difficulties in obtaining authorisation from the Argentine government for the shipment of our pork,” said Pedro de Camargo Neto, president of ABIPECS.
