March 12, 2008

Brazil's beef exports drop 17 percent in February on EU restrictions

Brazilian beef exports fell nearly 17 percent in volume and 30 percent in value last month at the wake of the EU restrictions, the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade of Brazil said.

On January 31, the EU banned Brazilian beef exports on animal health and traceability issues. The EU only cleared 106 Brazilian producers by the end of February.

Last month, Brazil exported 76,500 metric tonnes of beef fresh and frozen beef, valued at US$254 million.

February beef export volume was down 34 percent on-year, but declined by just 9 percent in value, due to rising beef prices over the past year.

In the first two months of 2008, total beef export volume declined by 25 percent from a year ago to 168,390 tonnes at an average price of US$3,324 per tonne.