July 19, 2010

Brazil's beef exports down, prices up

Brazil's June beef exports totalled 177,377 tonnes, down 2.3% on-year, but the average price received per tonne, at US$3,866, was up on-year at 18.6%, according to the Brazilian Beef Exporters' Association.

In the January-June period, Brazilian beef exports rose 1.6% in volume to 971,921 tonnes while the average export price rose 19% to US$3,704 per tonne.

Brazil has yet to restart beef exports to the US, which the Brazilian Agriculture Ministry halted at the end of May after USDA detected excess amounts of Ivermectin, an antiparasitic drug used to de-worm live animals, in a beef shipment from a JBS S.A. plant.

Hopes that exports would resume to the US from some Brazilian beef plants as soon as July 12 were dashed when the US government decided to wait and see whether a plan of action outlined by the Brazilian government to ensure acceptable levels of the drug will work, AE Brazil quoted sources familiar with the situation as saying.