April 21, 2009
Brazil beef prices fall unexpectedly
Beef prices in Brazil have unexpectedly dropped over recently months on an agribusiness boom.
Demand for Brazilian beef has also plunged, and many slaughterhouses have been affected by the credit crisis in recent months, leading to closures in both Mato Grosso do Sul and the neighbouring agricultural state of Mato Grosso. The closures have caused thousands of workers to be out of job.
The sudden drop was unexpected as the agribusiness boom had sent Brazilian land prices skyrocketing and brought in many US and Argentine investors looking to snap up farmland in Brazil just before the economic meltdown.
The recession is also beginning to hurt the previously high popularity ratings for President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as farmers are angry at his claims that the country would not be hit as hard by the meltdown as Europe and the US.
