April 1, 2011

Brazil's 2010 cattle slaughter climbs 4.3%

Brazil slaughtered 29.265 million cattle heads in 2010, surpassing the previous year by 4.3%, the Brazilian Census Bureau (IBGE) said Thursday (Mar 31).

In the fourth quarter alone, cattle slaughters hit 7.183 million, down 3% from the third quarter and also 3.8% lower than in the same period last year.

The Center-West accounted for 34.7% of Brazil's cattle slaughters last year, followed by the Southeast, at 22.4%. The main producing states were Mato Grosso (14% of the total), São Paulo (12.1%), and Mato Grosso do Sul (11.3%).

The IBGE also said that 4.988 billion chickens were slaughtered in 2010, 4.5% more than in 2009. Hog slaughters increased 5.1% last year, to 32.51 million.

Egg production rose 4.2% in 2010 to hit 2.46 billion dozens. The volume of milk bought by dairy and food companies last year, meanwhile, increased 7% to 20.966 billion litres.