May 15, 2008

Brazil beef exports down 15 percent in April

Brazil's beef exports reached 89,516 tonnes swt in April, down 15 percent compared with the same period last year, but 6 percent more than volumes shipped in March.

Over the period, average export prices went up to US$3,439 each tonne, but were still lower than January's record high value of US$3,969 for a tonne. This was before the EU partially banned beef exports from Brazil.

Rising input costs, an increasingly strong real and competition from the domestic market were the main factors that affected exports.

These have encouraged meatpackers to pass costs onto consumers, as global demand is strong, but to also cut their operating capacity to between 50 and 80 percent.

The cattle market has been tight and heavy steer prices reached US$1.51 per kilogramme lwt in March, reflecting scarce cattle supply and herd rebuilding after the high slaughter recorded in 2006 and early 2007 to supply strong domestic and international demand.