March 3, 2011

Argentine beef exports show decrease

Low cattle supplies and high domestic prices continued to see the redirection of export product to the domestic market; the two factors cause Argentine beef exports for July 2010 to January 2011 decrease 63% on-year, to 90,622 tonnes.

However, 'Hilton' High Quality Beef exports to the EU have recovered (up 147% to 14,485 tonnes during the period), with the local government distributing exporters' quotas on time this year (in contrast to a 5 month delay in 2009-10). As a result, Argentina is likely to ship most of its 28,000 tonnes 'Hilton' quota in 2010-11.

Average export prices for the period increased 83% year-on-year, to US$7,186/tonne because of the fierce competitiveness of beef sales in the local market.

During January, Israel became Argentina's main export beef market, taking 27% of total shipments for the month (11,824 tonnes), with high prices likely to see exports to this market sustained until Easter (World Beef Report). Germany followed Israel, taking 19% of total shipments for the month, while exports to Chile accounted for 12% of shipments. Export to Russia accounted for only 8% of the total, much lower than in previous year.