Brazil pork exports seen steady in 2009; looking to China

Brazil's Pork Industry Association, or Abipecs, expects to see pork exports steady this year by tapping into new markets, the president of Abipecs said on Friday (Jan 30).

 

Brazil exported 529,410 tonnes of pork worldwide in 2008 and this should be more-or-less maintained in 2009, Pedro de Camargo Neto, president of Abipecs said.

 

It is still difficult to know what will happen this year because of the economic downturn, he said. But Abipecs expects to tap new markets to help compensate for lower volumes in markets such as Russia.

 

A case in point is China. When Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva travels to China in May, the industry hopes to sign a deal to start pork exports to the giant Asian country, said De Camargo.

 

If the agreement goes ahead, Abipecs aims to export 50,000 tonnes of pork per year to China, De Camargo said. The preparations are currently being done, he added.

 

Brazilian pork exporters are also tapping new markets in South America, said De Camargo.

 

Brazil's state of Santa Catarina, the No.1 pig producing state, this week has been authorised to start pork exports to Chile, he said.

 

The Chilean authorities approved pork exports from Santa Catarina, which was declared free of foot-and-mouth disease without vaccination by the World Animal Health Organisation in May 2007.

 

"The approval process to start exports, however, has been long and bureaucratic," he said. "But finally it's done," he said.

 

The volumes will be only around 2,000 tonnes of pork per month to Chile, but Santa Catarina's pork producers should also hike exports by exporting to Japan and the US later this year, he said.

 

Brazil is the world's No.1 exporter of pork.