Ukraine ban takes toll on Brazilian pork exports
Brazil’s total pork exports fell nearly 18% year-on-year in May to 43,854 tonnes (t), compared to 53,404t in May 2012. Export values for the month reached US$114.06m, compared to US$138.38m in May last year.
Export volumes for the first five months of the year are now running 11% behind May 2012, totalling 199,889t, compared to 224,870t in the same period last year. Export values are down 8.21% to US$531.42m, compared to US$578.95m in January-May 2012.
Pork sales to Ukraine, which imposed a ban on Brazilian pork in March, have fallen 53% in the first five months of 2013 to 25,097t. Exports to China have also fallen by a considerable 61%, although shipments to China make up a tiny percentage of Brazil’s overall pork exports.
Brazilian pork exports to Hong Kong and Singapore are down on 2012’s levels for the first five months of the year, but saw an increase of 17.3% and 42.53% respectively in May, signalling some recovery.
Russia – Brazil’s biggest pork market – has performed well throughout the year, with a 1.96% year-on-year increase last month and a 28% year-on-year increase to 56,298t in the January-May period.
Sales to Argentina were up substantially to 1,089t last month, compared to 94t in May 2013, with sales for the January-May period up 26% year-on-year.
President of the Brazilian Association of Pork Producers and Exporters (ABIPECS) Rui Eduardo Saldanha Vargas said the numbers showed “without doubt”, the effect of the temporary restrictions imposed by Ukraine. However he added that ABIPECS was confident that the “impasse” with Ukraine would be solved, and that the Brazilian government was pressing Ukrainian authorities to make a decision following its veterinary visit in April.
He added that the recent opening of the Japanese market to pork exports from Santa Catarina – Brazil’s biggest exporting state – should boost international sales going forward.
