January 28, 2010

Chile beef imports up 28% in 2009

Chilean beef and veal imports increased 28% year-on-year in 2009 to 117,874 tonnes swt, fuelled by a 50% increase in shipments from Argentina.

Imports from Argentina rose to 41,788 tonnes swt, while purchase from Paraguay surged 44% to 64,435 tonnes. However, average CIF import prices declined 21% to US$3,785 per tonne.

Brazilian beef still has limited presence in Chile, with only 5,070 tonnes swt exported there during the year, but is slowly increasing as more beef plants are relisted since 2005’s foot-and-mouth disease outbreak bans.

Beef imports from Uruguay also remained low, declining 34% to 4,557 tonnes swt, as the meat was redirected to the EU where Brazil has limited access to.

Chilean imports of Australian beef also dropped 82% to only 1,774 tonnes swt, due to fierce competition from the more competitive Argentinean and Paraguayan beef product.